'A true hero': Asda delivery driver praised for helping elderly man who collapsed

The man, who is in his 80s and suffers from a breathing condition, had fallen, hurt his shoulder and arm – and had been struggling to raise the alarm for help.

Dean Reilly, a home shopper driver at Asda Brierley Hill, had visited the man's home to deliver shopping – when he saw a neighbour knocking his door but getting no response.

Along with the neighbour, Dean entered the house and found the man on the floor.

He kept the man from going into shock by talking to him and making him comfortable, while he waited for paramedics to arrive and take him to hospital.

Dean, 38, who has worked at the Asda store for two years, said: "It was quite an early drop, one of my first of the day. I started to get the stuff out of the van and one of the customer's neighbours from across the road was hanging around outside the house.

"She was knocking at the door, but getting no response. I started to shout through the letterbox while she ran back home to get to a key for the house and I went in with her.

Pain

"He was in the kitchen and he had taken a fall. So we then called for an ambulance straight away. He wasn't sure whether he had broken his arm and collar bone.

"I used to be in the fire service so I am used to handling people with injuries, so I made sure he didn't have had a head injury or chest pains. I got him comfortable.

"He said he had a breathing or lung condition and that's what we were a bit worried about.

"I then just sat with him. He was a bit confused, but I chatted to him about all sorts and made sure he didn't go into shock. He felt he was a bit of a burden. He kept saying 'you don't expect to do this on your job, mate' but I assured him that it wasn't a problem and that he wasn't a burden to anyone.

"He had been on the floor for about 10 to 15 minutes, but if myself or the neighbour hadn't turned up it could have been really quite dangerous for him.

"He obviously was in a lot of pain but he hid it pretty well. He couldn't get up as he couldn't put his arms down to support himself and both his legs were bandaged up due to other problems."

Proud

He added: "I hope that whoever would have turned up with his shopping that day would have used their initiative and not panicked. Being previously in the fire service it was a bit of normal thing for me really.

"I stayed with him for about half an hour until the ambulance crew arrived then told them everything I knew and then went on my way.

"I have not been back to the house since, but one of other drivers left a note for me saying 'Bob says thanks for your help the other week', which was nice."

Allen Sargeant, Asda Brierley Hill's home shopping section leader, said: "We are all proud of him here in store – it was a very heroic thing to do. Dean turning up when he did made all the difference.

"Dean's a really popular and approachable member of our team so it came as no surprise what he did.

"After he had spent about half an hour with the customer while they waited for the ambulance to arrive he still managed to deliver all his other shopping on time."

Store manager Stephen Thomas, who nominated Dean for an Asda award, added: "Thank you Dean, you are a true superhero."