BARMAN David Walker is lucky to be alive after he was speared through the arm when his car plunged down an embankment.

A piece of fence post went straight through his right arm, severing a major artery.

Mr Walker, 31, pulled out the post himself and a rescuer arrived to find him calmly holding his arm and listening to football commentary on the radio.

The crash happened on Sunday during a downpour on the A1 at Gateshead, near the Team Valley trading estate, as he drove to work.

His Vauxhall Vectra skidded, struck the central reservation, and went off the road.

The post smashed through the side window and a jagged piece pierced his arm near the elbow.

After pulling out the post, Mr Walker used his left hand to apply pressure to the wound, but would have still been in danger of bleeding to death if qualified first aider Tom Domoney had not witnessed the accident.

He climbed into the car and was able to stop the flow of blood.

Mr Walker, of Birtley, near Gateshead, said: "I feel incredibly lucky. The funny thing is that Tom is a Sunderland fan and I support Newcastle. He's the last person I would have expected to rescue me.

"I didn't feel any pain. All I could think about was getting the piece of post out.

"When blood began pouring out, I started to panic. I am so lucky Tom was there - I can't thank him enough."

Father-of-five Mr Domoney, 44, of Westerhope, Newcastle, said: "He was conscious and seemed more worried about the Newcastle versus Arsenal match he had been listening to on the radio."