‘It hasn’t sunk in – maybe it never will’ – Liverpool parade ‘hero’ recalls day of terror | Liverpool

Former soldier Dan Barr has been hailed as a hero for jumping into a man’s car after he plowed into a crowd of pedestrians at a Liverpool FC parade.Paul Doyle and brings the anger to a halt. His “extraordinary bravery” was praised by judge Andrew Menary KC with the High Sheriff’s award. Here the 41-year-old man, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, tells what happened.

I just remember seeing the opportunity for his car to be there. I was about five feet away. There was perfect space between me and the door. So I ran as fast as I could.

There were other people around the car and they were desperately – and rightly so – trying to take it. [to it]. I ran towards the window with full intention of throwing a punch… because I assumed all the doors were locked.

I tried the door at the last moment and it opened. I crawled in. Keep in mind all the screaming, yelling, and panic. As soon as I got into the backseat, he accelerated and the door slammed behind me.

Some things are very blurry but I remember other things vividly; The change in noise is one of them. The contrast between screams and shouts followed by near silence. It was really weird.

I remember looking for the keys and anything that would stop him. I’d probably try holding the steering wheel and pulling the parking brake.

I can see all the terrible things that are happening. You can feel people. You can feel them leaving. The lack of resilience looms in my mind. It was just like sailing and there was no resistance from people. It’s like it’s floating randomly.

Finally – it could have been two seconds, I don’t know – I remember reaching out from the back seat and seeing the automatic transmission lever, and I pushed it into “P” as hard as I could, which stopped the car.

He wanted to continue; He was still revving the car. I kept my hand there as hard as I could. He didn’t stand a chance, he wasn’t going to move my arm.

I managed to put my right hand forward and tighten the seat belt button. It was gone as soon as I pressed it. The crowd was trying to take him out.

I remember thinking, “I hope I don’t get kicked too much.” I actually thought so too…because of the way it looked: I just got out of that car.

I remember walking down the street and seeing three dead people, but there were two or three people around them, so I figured I couldn’t help any further. I met up with my brother and I think I said something roughly sensible to him at a million miles an hour and then went out for a beer.

If he was a terrorist with a bomb, I was already dead. Just: get in the middle of it, do something. You can change things.

If you can somehow find the truth of most of the men I saw on that street, they were all trying to do the same thing. Not like “hero” or “brave”. Doing your best is standard. I don’t think it’s anything special. I know it sounds crazy. It hasn’t sunk yet; Maybe it will never sink.