First aider helps saves man who had a heart attack at the wheel
Tim Tunks, aged 33, sprung into action after the car in front of him swerved into a ditch and collided with a tree off the B3051 in Aldermaston.
Mr Tunks, who works as a planning engineer for Redhall Nuclear, was leaving work at Calleva Park when the accident happened.
He flagged down two other motorists and asked them to call an ambulance while he checked on the driver.
“He didn’t answer at first but then he started to move his head and just groaned at me.
“He started to go very grey in the face and his eyes glazed over. It was at that point that I knew there was something wrong with him. It was like he was there but wasn’t there.”
Mr Tunks put his first aid training he had received at work into use, listening to see if the victim was breathing.
The drama continued to unfold after smoke started to come from the dashboard. One of the other helpers removed the key from the ignition and they decided to get the driver out of the car.
“The guy went floppy and heavy and leaned out of the car but I managed to lower him gently onto my knees and perform the airway, breathing and circulation checks again but there was nothing so we started CPR,” Mr Tunks said.
As the three fought to save the man’s life, an off duty police officer arrived and used his radio for an update on the ambulances position.
“We’d already called for an ambulance but the operator was asking us for directions and an NHS ambulance wouldn’t be here for another 20 minutes - but we didn’t have 20 minutes,” Mr Tunks said.
It was only when an Atomic Weapons Establishment ambulance arrived and paramedics used a defibrillator to restart his heart that the pressure was lifted from the first aiders.
The victim was airlifted by the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
He has since recovered and is back home.
Following the incident in May, Mr Tunks went back to the office for a drink and a chat with colleagues to calm down before his 60-mile drive home to Westbury, Northamptonshire.
He said: “Everyone congratulated me and said I had done a good job.
“I would encourage people to take professional training before trying to help someone, but as the guy was unconscious and not breathing I had to make an executive decision. It can have serious repercussions if you don’t do it right.
“I don’t feel like a hero. I just could not believe what I had seen. It was all a bit surreal. I was at the scene for an hour and 40 minutes but it went in a flash.”