HEROIC reception staff saved the life of a man when he called their office.

Michelle Sutcliffe and Marie Butler were fielding calls at City of York Council's West Offices when Mrs Sutcliffe realised something was wrong with the man she was speaking to.

The diabetic 73-year-old had called the Station Rise building in distress and the call-handlers realised he was suffering a hypoglycaemic attack and needed urgent help.

She raised the alarm to her colleague and they helped calm the man while an ambulance was sent to his home. She was able to keep the pensioner on the phone for 15 minutes by talking to him and reassuring him.

The pair have now been nominated for a 2015 Community Pride award in the Public Sector Hero category by their colleague Eilidh Carricker.

York Press:

Michelle, left, and Marie, right

She said: "Michelle got a call from someone who sounded confused and nonsensical. His speech was slurred and he wasn’t using proper words.

"Despite not being able to understand what the caller wanted, Michelle persevered with the caller"

"After hearing Michelle repeat the caller’s mention of diabetes, Marie realised that something was very wrong and that he might be suffering from a hypoglycaemic attack.

She managed to persuade him to let the medical team into his house and hand the phone over to them. She was then able to efficiently inform them of the situation.

Michelle has been working for the City of York Council for 17 years and has been in the call centre since December 2014.

She told The Press she had never dealt with anything like it before.

The award is run in partnership with City of York Council and the primary sponsor is Benenden.

All Community Pride nominees must live in, or contribute to life in, the City of York Council area.

About three finalists from each category will be invited to the awards ceremony at York Racecourse in October, when the winners will be revealed.

You can make a nomination online at yorkpress.co.uk/communitypride.

Entries must be submitted by Friday, July 17.