Tuesday 22 September 2009

Eye-witness account of last week’s Whitechapel cycling death

A charity worker today described his battle to save the life of a cyclist who had been crushed by a lorry.

Chrystelle Brown
, 26, was dragged 100 yards along the road after being hit by the vehicle as she rode to work.

As she lay screaming in pain another cyclist, Andy Dangerfield, stopped and tried to put her in the recovery position.


Mr Dangerfield, 33, described the junction of Whitechapel Road and Vallance Road as a death trap.


"I think the truck driver didn't see Chrystelle. There were works on the pavement, with a temporary fence, so Chrystelle had nowhere to go," he said.

Her family are campaigning for improvements to this junction:

Cousin Kat Hawes said: "We want to ensure that she did not die in vain and are campaigning for the redesign of this junction to prevent further tragic deaths.

"It is renowned throughout the cyclist community as being dangerous, particularly when travelling south down Vallance Road.