THE quick-thinking actions of a Newport woman have been praised as lifesaving, following a crash on the Southern Distributor Road (SDR) in the city.

Michelle Keeps, 41, was among the first on-scene after a van was involved in a crash on the SDR on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at around 3.10am on November 17, and the road was closed between Balfe Road and Spytty for some time.

Three people were inside the van at the time.

One of them, a 19-year-old, from the Cardiff area, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

However, the actions of Miss Keeps have been described by the family of the injured teenager as lifesaving.

Miss Keeps, who lives opposite the SDR in Newport, said that she was heading to bed on the night of the crash.

"I heard a skid and a bang," she said.

"My daughter said “something’s happened on the SDR, let’s go and check”.

"When we got down there we saw the boy lying in the middle of the road with a massive laceration on his thigh."

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Miss Keeps said that she acted on instinct, immediately calling for assistance from others who had come out to see what had happened.

"I didn't know what I was doing," she said.

"I shouted for something to tie around his thigh to stop the bleeding," she said.

Using a belt and a stick, a tourniquet was fashioned around the teenager's leg.

"We made it as tight as we could make it," she said, noting that she was helped by another woman and a man.

Miss Keeps said she wanted to thank both of them for their help, but she had not caught their names.

"I kept talking to the lad to keep him awake until the ambulance arrived," she said.

Miss Keeps says that she has never had any first aid training, but "I’ve watched lots of '24 Hours in A&E' so it must have come from somewhere".

"I love those emergency programmes," she said.

The Iceland worker has been described as a "hero" by colleague Jacob Sutton.

This sentiment is shared by the family of the teenager who was injured in the crash.

"They brought round flowers and chocolates," she said.

"They thanked me for saving his life."