‘You can't help feel emotion': Hero firefighter tells of chaos at scene of Liverpool parade crash

Independent

30-05-2025

Pictured sprinting through the crowd of shell-shocked faces towards the injured, the image of firefighter Ben Ryder has joined those who have symbolised the heroic actions of emergency services on one of Liverpool's darkest days.
A modest man with 24 years' service at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, the area manager admits he feared for the worst when he got the call to say a car had struck people at the Liverpool FC victory parade.
The lifelong Liverpool supporter arrived at a scene of pandemonium with dozens of casualties, many of them on the ground, sprawled across the closed-off road.
'I'll be honest,' he tells The Independent. 'It was chaotic. People were screaming, running scared. There were people injured on the floor, some walking wounded. So many people. It was very traumatic.
'It was our job at that point to reassure people and make sure everyone is looked after, and then we could get a grip on the scene and make sure the area was safe and everyone requiring treatment was getting it.'
Mr Ryder, a third-generation firefighter, had been monitoring the parade from the fire service's HQ, in Bootle, when he got the call from a colleague that something had gone very wrong.
'My officer phoned me and said Merseyside Police are about to declare a major incident due to a vehicle hitting a number of members of the public,' says Mr Ryder, who dispatched a team located nearby, before getting in a car to race to the scene.
As he arrived, four people, including a child, had just been freed from underneath the Ford Galaxy, whose suspected driver had already been taken away by police.
The work of the firefighters was singled out by Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims, who said they immediately ran towards an 'extremely uncertain and potentially dangerous situation in an effort to protect other members of the public'.
'This was a mass casualty event, so we had to prioritise casualty treatments in terms of survivability and make sure that we were able to get to the maximum number of people and not leave anyone untreated,' Mr Ryder says.
Some of those injured were treated on the road, others were kept still until an ambulance could arrive.
Those not requiring immediate treatment were moved inside two restaurants - Riva Blu and Mowgli - where usually-busy lounges were quickly cleared of customers to be turned into make-shift medical shelters. Tables were moved aside, chairs were laid out.
Every injured person inside the shelters had an emergency service worker, with firefighters, known more for dealing with fires but trained in treating traumatic injuries, helping to treat patients.
'When we exercise for these things, it's not always a restaurant that you volunteer, so you have to be flexible to make the best use of your surroundings,' says Mr Ryder. 'It could have been a shop, it could have been a church, it could have been a school, you just make use of the resources around it.'
'You ensure everything is sort of clear about the way to be able to sit people down, lie people down and give them the correct care and attention that they need.'
Much has been said about the spirit of the city in response to the incident, with locals coming together in the aftermath to offer lifts home, places to stay and money to those impacted.
At the scene, Mr Ryder says the public helped clear the area and supported emergency services where possible, despite the clear trauma and distress many had experienced on what was supposed to be a day of jubilation across the city.
The event, to mark Liverpool FC winning the Premier League title, will always be remembered, says Mr Ryder, particularly by those who witnessed it, or responded to it. In total, 79 people were injured, aged from nine to 78.
He says: 'You look down Water Street, it's iconic, isn't it? You look down towards the Cunards [Cunard Building], you look down towards the Liver Birds and the River Mersey. The parade. You saw that sea of red and the flares and how happy and jovial everyone was.
'Then you have really distressing scene.
'As fans we've all got family and friends that will be in the parade. So all the responders will have had family, friends, loved ones there. My own children were. So you can't help but feel that emotion, as well trained as you are and as professional as you are.
'You go home and you give your loved ones. I certainly give my wife and my kids an extra tight cuddle that night. You're there the next day for your community. That's why you join the emergency services to help and support your community.
'Afterwards, you do really feel that sense of just 'thank God we were able to support our communities'.'
On Friday, Paul Doyle, 53, from West Derby, Liverpool, appeared at court in Liverpool on Friday charged with two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of dangerous driving.
He was remanded in custody until his next hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on 14 August.