A hero husband killed by an oncoming lorry on the M60 ‘sacrificed himself to save the woman he loved’, an inquest heard.
David Lalgee, 64, selflessly turned his car into the path of the HGV so that he took the brunt of the impact – saving the life of his beloved wife Jo.
The church pastor from Tameside, Greater Manchester, made the split-second decision after the lorry suffered a tyre blowout and swerved out of control on March 20.
The HGV ‘uncontrollably swayed’ and ‘slewed’ across the motorway, near Salford, before smashing through the central reservation barrier and hitting Mr Laglee’s electric BMW, the inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard.
The grandfather-of-nine, turned his EV so that he would protect his passenger and wife Jo. In doing so, he suffered ‘catastrophic and unsurvivable’ injuries and died later in hospital.
In a heartbreaking statement released after the tragedy, his family commended his ‘incredible bravery’.
They said: ‘In his final moments, David did what he had always done – he put others before himself,’ they said.
‘With incredible bravery, he protected his wife, Jo, placing himself between her and the oncoming lorry that had crossed the central reservation. He took the full impact, sacrificing his life to save the woman he loved.’
Speaking at the inquest, Jo paid tribute to her ‘charismatic, loving and giving husband’, saying he was someone who ‘devoted his time to others’.
‘His passing was a huge loss to many people,’ she said.
A coroner ruled there was no criminality in the driving standards of those involved and the crash was ‘entirely unavoidable’ due to the tyre blowout.
He said there was ‘no realistic explanation that can be offered in terms of why this has happened’.
‘It is entirely possible that there was something on the road that the tyre was exposed to, but that was never found,’ coroner Michael Pemberton said.
David Lalgee (right), 64, a popular church pastor from Tameside, acted heroically to sacrifice himself and save his wife, Jo (left), before the collision on March 20 this year
Mr Lalgee’s vehicle collided with a lorry after he swerved to save his wife from the brunt of the impact
The inquest heard there was ‘no evidence of pre-existing mechanical defects’ with the lorry, which was being driven by Tracy Carradice back to Morecambe from Immingham, near Lincolnshire.
The HGV had passed a service the day before the crash and no faults were found on the tyre or wheel before the collision.
Detective Sergeant Matthew Waggett, from Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said the crash was a result of a ‘chain of events’ and not the fault of Ms Carradice.
A forensic investigation found that ‘nothing that could be attributed’ to the tyre blowout, for example a bulge in the tyre, nail or a foreign object. As a result, it’s not known why the tyre failed.
Ms Carradice, an experienced lorry driver of eight years, told the inquest she was driving a regular route when the crash occurred.
She heard a ‘big bang’ before the wagon ‘violently dropped’ to the right, the inquest heard.
‘I was stood on the brake and I was fighting the steering wheel trying to keep it straight,’ she said.
Ms Carradice said there was nothing she could have done or should have done differently, adding that she replays the collision in her mind everyday.
Mr Lalgee lived with his wife Jo in Mossley, Tameside. The pair had three children and three stepchildren
Mr Lalgee, who was born in Scunthorpe, lived with his wife Jo in Mossley, Tameside. The married couple had three children and three stepchildren.
The family were planning to move to Blackpool and had been driving home after visiting the seaside town at the time of the crash.
Speaking to the Daily Mail after the death of her husband, Jo said he undoubtedly ‘saved my life’.
She said: ‘It was a miracle that I walked away from the accident, he did everything he could to stop the lorry from hitting me.
‘He sacrificed his life to save mine and I’ll be forever grateful to him for that.
‘When we saw the lorry break through the central reservation, David knew exactly what was going to happen.
‘He said to me, “OK, here we go”. He manoeuvred the car so that he took the full impact of the lorry. After the impact, we rolled several times.
‘When we came to a stop, all the airbags had gone off, but I thought we were OK.
‘But I could see David and there was blood streaming from his head. I got out of the car, and apart from a couple of broken ribs I was OK.
‘But the car had been completely crushed. It was a miracle.
‘The doctors did everything they could for David, but they couldn’t save him.’
Mr Laglee, a former police officer who was also a qualified nurse, was the pastor of Church Alive, an evangelical church in Blackpool. His family described him as ‘a pillar of love and support to so many’.
A medical cause of death was given as ‘multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a road traffic collision’.
Coroner Michael Pemberton said he had been ‘personally touched’ by the tragedy as he had travelled the same route just 20 minutes earlier and heard about the collision later.
Addressing the family after recording a conclusion that Mr Lalgee died as a result of a road traffic collision, he said: ‘This is an absolutely tragic case and the loss of David will be felt forever more.
‘It is clear that he was a dearly-loved father, grandfather and husband who had made a major contribution to society.’
