A PREGNANT woman who risked her life to save the victim of a horror road crash is to receive one of the country’s top national bravery honours by Royal approval. She has been praised as having “dared to go where others feared to tread.”

When she arrived at the scene of the crash on the A48 at Newnham on the morning of 28th March this year Tracy Archer, 39, ignored warnings from others there not to approach the blazing car with the badly injured driver trapped inside it.

Despite the danger of the car exploding at any moment she braved the fire to open a door, unclip the driver’s seat-belt and get him to safety. She then remained talking to the driver, 71-year-old Kenneth Bennett, of Lydney, who had suffered five broken ribs, a broken sternum and clavicle and comforting him until an ambulance arrived.

Now Mrs Archer has been awarded a Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Vellum for her actions. The award has been personally approved and will be signed by Princess Alexandra, the president of the society.

Tracy, who was living in Chepstow at the time but now lives near Raglan, said: “I was driving along when the car in front of me was hit by an oncoming vehicle. The other car’s brakes had failed; he got out fine but Ken was trapped, and then the car caught on fire.

“People were shouting at me to get back but I suffer a bit with oppositional defiance so I dragged him out the car and across the road.”

Acting alone in saving Mr Bennett, Tracy has also won the personal praise of Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society.

As he announced the award at the Society’s London headquarters he said: “She literally dared to go where others feared to tread.

“What she did was incredibly brave. Anyone who approaches a burning vehicle is taking their life in their hands. It could explode into flame at any time. But Mrs Archer didn’t hesitate. Despite others urging her not to, in a completely selfless action she went to the aid of the injured driver and saved him from being burned to death. She richly deserves the award.”

No date has been fixed for presentation of the award but it is expected to take place in the near future.

Tracy added: “It was such a surprise to get this award, you don’t do these things to receive anything in return”.

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back more than two centuries. The Queen is its patron and its president is Princess Alexandra. It is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.

It was founded in 1774 by two of the day’s eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.

However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.

The society also awards non health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the society has considered over 87,000 cases and made over 200,000 awards. The society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.

It was one of a select number of organisations to receive a donation from the Patron’s fund which was set up to acknowledge work done by organisations of which the Queen is the patron, to mark her 90th birthday.