A DRIVER who passed out at the wheel of his car has thanked a Good Samaritan who helped him at the roadside while he waited for medical assistance.
David Williams was driving with his wife Nycollette and their daughter when he began to feel poorly and the car started veering across the road.
Nycollette managed to bring the car to a stop, but David was out cold.
Although a number of cars behind theirs carried on, BT engineer Jonathan Nicholls and Ian Barnett, a sales director from Peterborough, did rush to help the stricken family by calling an ambulance and directing traffic to make the area safe.
Nycollette said: “David did regain consciousness, and manage to stagger from the car, but by this time he was literally a deep ashen grey with blue lips to match, but when Ian called the emergency services again, we were told there was a shortage of ambulances and they were having to send an air ambulance.”
When it arrived it landed in a field separated from the road by a water-filled ditch and Jonathan used the ladders from his BT van to make a bridge for the paramedics, who treated David at the scene while an ambulance was called as there was no way to get him to the helicopter.
Nycollette said: “My daughter had just been to the dentist and my son was at home alone suffering from gastric flu, so I had to get home, but Ian stayed with David until he was in the ambulance.
“Words cannot express my gratitude to these two strangers who stopped to help. It was a distressing and emotional time.”
Once at hospital, David was found to have extremely low blood pressure, which may have been caused by breathing in fumes from a white van which passed the couple’s car just before he was taken ill.
Earlier this month, Nycollette and David, who live in Spalding, met Jonathan Nicholls for the first time since the incident, which happened last March, to pass on their heartfelt thanks.
They now hope to arrange another meeting with Jonathan and Ian.
Nycollette added: “These two amazing people unselfishly gave their time to help. Despite the enormity of sad and wrong things that happen in the world it is wonderful that people still care.”