First aider tried to help cyclist dying in the street (From Times Series)

First aider tried to help cyclist dying in the street in High Barnet

2:18pm Thursday 18th October 2012 in News

A young first aider who was one of the first at the scene of a fatal cyclist crash in High Barnet says she felt powerless to help the woman as she lay dying in the street.

Kimberly Bonner, 24, came to the aid of the 66-year-old cyclist after she was hit by a lorry in High Street, next to St John the Baptist Church, at 2.55pm on Tuesday.

The Barnet St John Ambulance member felt for a pulse but the woman is thought to have died almost instantly.

Nursery worker Miss Bonner had been returning to her home in Potters Bar and was walking up High Street to catch a bus when she was presented with the horrifying scene.

She said: “I noticed the traffic had stopped and there was a lot of people looking down into the road. When I saw the woman lying there I just thought ‘right, this is my job as a first aider’.

“I was speaking to her and checking for a pulse but I couldn’t feel one and she wasn’t responding. I shouted into a charity shop for a blanket and they brought out a coat, which I placed over her.

“I just felt so useless. You go through all this training and you see this kind of thing on TV but it is eye opening.”

In the few minutes before emergency services arrived, a passing nurse also came over to help.

Miss Bonner said: “She said there was nothing we could do. It was so sad – I really feel for her family.”

Police arrested the driver on suspicion of driving without due care and attention. He has been released on bail until December.