A DAD has come forward as one of two heroes who helped save a man crushed by his own car.

The Gazette appealed for two mystery passers-by to identify themselves after it emerged they jacked the car to take the pressure off James Watson.

Mr Watson, 71, was trapped after being dragged under his Peugeot 308 last Thursday.

The former Army gunner and school caretaker is in a stable condition in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.

Stuart Symons, 30, of Old Heath, Colchester, contacted the Gazette after Mr Watson’s daughter Corrinne publicly appealed to locate her dad’s heroes.

Mr Symons said: “I was the first person there and the first thing I thought of was getting the car off.”

Mr Symons was walking with his two-year-old daughter Layla-Jayne and her aunty in Ariel Close, Colchester, at the time.

He said: “As soon as I turned to the left the car had rolled down a hill and the ignition was still on.

“The fella was trying to stop it.

“He had gone under the car and the car had come to a halt by his ankle.

“He had blood all over his face.

“He was conscious and saying ‘get the car off me’.

Mr Symons ran over and put the handbrake on and then opened the boot to find a jack.

“I might have made a bit of a mess of his boot but I had to,” he added.

Mr Symons started to jack the car up before Josh Stant, an old friend, stumbled about the chaotic scene too.

“One of my mates came along about five minutes later and asked what was going on.

“He went to get a bigger jack and we winched it up.”

By now two women had dialled 999 and an ambulance soon arrived.

Mr Symons added: “As soon as the paramedics arrived I thought there were enough people there so I left.”

Corrinne Wright, one of Mr Watson’s two daughters, said she had been able to speak with her dad to tell him she loved him when he was initially taken to Colchester General Hospital.

Corrinne, 46, of Hadleigh, Essex, said if her dad didn’t pull through, the efforts of Mr Symons and Mr Stant had given her those precious moments.

But yesterday she said her dad had stabilised after undergoing surgery on his leg.

She added: “He is still sedated and has big cage with rods around his leg.”

Mrs Wright said she expected the operation to be the first of many in her dad’s long road to recovery.

Fire crews had to use an inflatable device to completely lift the car off Mr Watson and free him.

Mr Watson from Colchester, had broken ribs, a crushed pelvis and a broken hip, extensive damage to his right leg and a broken ankle.

The “avid” classic car enthusiast, served in the Army as a gunner until around 1980, completing tours of Northern Ireland and Germany.

He then worked as a caretaker for King’s Ford schools - now Iceni Academy – in Shrub End, Colchester, for about ten years.

Mr Watson also has three step-children and a partner.