A POLICE officer has described how he thought he would die alone on a remote rural road after he skewered his arm on a radio aerial and severed an artery in a freak accident.

PC Lee Jackson realised he was in mortal danger when blood spurted out of the wound – and he visualised a pile of flowers on the road side as he waited for help to arrive.

But his life was saved thanks to seven fellow Durham Police officers and a woman who lived on a nearby farm.

Had he arrived at hospital a minute later he would have lost his arm – and three minutes later and he would have been dead, doctors told him.

PC Jackson, of Consett Police, said: “During 18 years in response cars I have been shot in the face, been stabbed, been set on fire and been in incidents where people have attacked me with axes. I’ve been through my scrapes, but this is the most serious.”

The 45-year-old spoke of his near-death experience as it was announced that his rescuers had been honoured by the Royal Humane Society.

PC Jackson was busy with routine visits on what he expected to be an uneventful Sunday morning on November 27 last year, when he went to investigate a vehicle which had overturned and gone down a bank at West Butsfield, on the A68, near Consett.

He climbed along the van's roof to check if anybody was in the cab when he felt something snag.

When he looked he saw the van aerial, which had snapped in the accident, had gone into the top of his right forearm. What he did not realise was that several inches of the aerial had gone down into the muscle of his forearm.

He said: “I was just about to call for help when it started to bleed. The blood came spurting out in time with my heart beat and went straight over the top of my head and over the top of the van.

“I have dealt with arterial bleeds and knew straight away it was very serious. I knew I couldn’t wait. It could be eight to 15 minutes before there was no blood left."

PC Jackson eased himself off the aerial and put out a radio alert that he had an arterial bleed, before applying pressure on the wound.

He added: “I realised I was going to bleed out. Putting direct pressure on was not working. After eight minutes I thought 'that’s it, there’s nothing I can do now'. I thought about my children and visualised a pile of flowers on the side of the road.”

He made his way to nearby farmhouse and kicked on the door. The occupant, Freda Scott, was with a countryside ranger.

PC Jackson added: "She was great. She offered me a tea towel to put on my arm. She invited me in and I declined thinking I don’t want to die in a stranger’s house. It wouldn’t be nice for them."

In the meantime PCs Alan Freeman, Philip Nixon and Carl Symes and Sergeant Philip Carter had arrived. They made a makeshift tourniquet out of a belt and tried to staunch the bleeding.

PC Freeman said: “As we spoke to him we could see the colour drain out of his face. We tried not to let our concerns show because we wanted to keep him calm and relaxed.”

Acting Chief Inspector David Stewart, who was commanding the incident from Consett police station, called a first aid trained armed response unit, knowing they carried a trauma pack.

He said: "Lee’s consultant said that without everyone's actions there is every chance that Lee would not have have survived. I can't be any prouder."

PCs Mark Cudden and David Morgan, who were at Spennymoor, sped to the scene, preparing a tourniquet, pressure bandage and oxygen on the way.

PC Cudden said: “Lee was in shock due to blood loss. Dave immediately applied the tourniquet while I put the pressure bandage on and administered oxygen.”

The officers decided took PC Jackson in a marked police vehicle to the University Hospital of North Durham, where a medical team was waiting.

Speaking of his gratitude to everyone, PC Jackson said: "They are amazing. I have seen them do it for other people. I have always known they are amazing. But for them to do it for someone they have worked with for 18 years, the pressure must really have been on them."

The officers and Mrs Scott won the personal praise of Royal Humane Society secretary Dick Wilkinson.

He said: “Everyone involved richly deserves their award. This was a freak accident but thankfully there was not a tragic ending to it.”

A date has yet to be fixed for the presentation of the awards.