Paramedic tells how friend died by falling out ambulance side door

A paramedic yesterday told the High Court how his lifelong friend was killed when he fell out the side door of an ambulance and onto the road as they transported a patient.

PJ Cahill, who was driving the ambulance on the N3 Cavan to Dublin road, said he heard a thud and looked in a mirror to see his 43-year-old friend, Simon Sexton, a father of six, hit the ground.

Mr Cahill, who has launched a High Court action for nervous shock as a result of witnessing the incident, said he jammed on the brakes and ran back to find Mr Sexton lying face down near the grassy verge.