Stourbridge postman helps save life of collapsed pensioner
A Black Country postman has been hailed as a hero after saving the life of a man who collapsed outside a sorting office.
Dan Howells sprung into action outside the sorting office in Stourbridge on Wednesday, November 23, after 78-year-old Darryl Taylor collapsed after suffering cardiac arrest while collecting a package.
Mr Howells administered CPR for around 10 minutes to Mr Taylor, who had hit his head during the fall and had stopped breathing.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Howells, who was talked through the resuscitation by West Midlands Ambulance service after calling 999, said he was still coming to terms with what had happened.
He said: "I'm so thankful that Darryl's come through and he's going to be coming out of hospital in the next week or two.
"It's just nice for this really heart-warming story to come out and even to make people more aware that CPR training is really important.
"Top respect to the operators on the 999 calls because they were really clear, really straight to the point and got me through it.
"If you do do these first aid cases, take note as you never know when you're going to need it."
Mr Taylor is now recovering in Russells Hall Hospital after going into cardiac arrest, and his daughter Lynn Wilkes offered her own thanks on Twitter to Dan and West Midlands Ambulance Service.
She said: “Massive thank you to West Midlands Ambulance Service for saving my Dad’s life last Wednesday and the critical care doctor Ryan who also attended. Also, to the postman Dan Howells who performed CPR until the crews arrived.
“Dad is still in hospital awaiting a pacemaker but is doing well, thanks to you.
“Dan was amazing. My Dad is still with us thanks to him. He deserves a medal. There are no words to thank Dan enough for his amazing efforts.”
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We were called to reports of a patient in cardiac arrest at Royal Mail Delivery Office in Stourbridge at 12.43pm on November 23.
"Two ambulances, a paramedic officer and a critical care car from the Midlands Air Ambulance base in Cosford responded to the scene with the first resource arriving within 7 mins.
"When ambulance staff arrived they found a man being given excellent CPR by bystanders. Crews immediately took over resuscitation efforts.
"The man’s heart was successfully restarted on scene before quickly being conveyed on blue lights to Russells Hall Hospital for further emergency care."
She added: "It is always a welcomed sight to our staff to see bystanders performing CPR when they arrive on scene as every second counts when someone is in cardiac arrest.
"This case is the perfect example of how crucial learning CPR is in helping to save a life and we’d like to thank the bystanders for their swift actions.
"We’re delighted to hear the patient is continuing to recover well and we would like to thank the family for their kind words on Twitter.
"Their message has been passed to our compliments team, who will ensure that the staff involved receive the family’s message."
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We are incredibly proud of the quick-thinking actions taken by our colleague, and wish our customer a speedy recovery.
"Royal Mail has pioneered trials offering online learning courses in CPR to our people.
"We have recently announced a new charity partnership with the British Heart Foundation where we aim to raise funds to deliver CPR training for one million young people.
"They now have the skills to save lives, help to buy hundreds of community defibrillators and develop accessible heart health information for the nation.”
