Nurses pick up man's mobile with tragic news

Julia Cain phoned her husband Phil when he was failed to arrive home on time last Friday.

A nurse at York District Hospital answered the call and told her they were trying to resuscitate him.

Mrs Cain said her “heart sunk to her feet” when she heard the news – two and a half hours after the accident happened.

She said: "I told her to tell Phil that I loved him dearly and he was not going anywhere."

But when Mrs Cain, of Driffield, arrived at York Hospital she was told her husband had died.

Mrs Cain said: “I'm not criticising the police or other emergency services, but I would have expected a phone call or knock on the door. With today’s technology and the ability to trace the owner of a car from the number plate within minutes, it was not too much to expect.

“I dread to think when I would have heard about Phil’s accident if the nurse had not answered his mobile, which was with his possessions in the treatment room.”

Mr Cain was landlord of the Beeswing pub in York for 23 years, commuting there from his home in Driffield. He had previously owned a fish and chip shop.

The driver of the other car involved in the crash, a 46-year-old woman, was admitted to York Hospital, and a four-year-old boy who was in the car was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary. Both were said to be in a stable condition.

The Cains married in 2004 after meeting in Greece on holiday two year earlier.

Mrs Cain said: “He was a wonderful man who would do anything for anybody, and was well-loved by everyone who knew him.”

Barmaid Carly Taylor, 21, said: “It's such a shock. It seems weird that I was talking to him just half an hour before.”