AMBULANCE chiefs today praised a taxi driver who saved the life of a man who had stopped breathing.

William Pinner – who had never received first aid training – said that, with the help of two other taxi drivers, Tom Aktas and Sarkan Yildirim, and a cleaner, he restored the 35-year-old Pocklington man’s pulse.

Mr Pinner, who is known as Billy, commended the two women in the ambulance control room who advised him on how to give the heart massage.

The man had collapsed on the pavement near the front entrance of York Railway Station following what was believed to have been an asthma attack.

Mr Pinner, of Rawcliffe, York, said: “When I was giving the heart massage I was on my knees. When I was told I could stop, I fell backwards at least two yards with joy and relief and happiness.

“I had all sorts of emotions going through me, but I was shattered and just went backwards.”

The incident happened in the early hours of the morning, when the father-of-three was waiting for fares at the station. Mr Pinner, 33, said the cleaner, who had seen the man lying on the floor, shouted to the drivers, telling them to call an ambulance. Billy made the call on his mobile phone.

“The first thing they (the emergency services) asked me to do was take his pulse. They told me to put him in the recovery position, which I did straight away.” Billy, who works for Station Taxis, said the man was breathing irregularly.

“The cleaner was holding his left hand and checking his pulse and a colleague of mine was holding his right hand checking his pulse and I was listening to his mouth checking his breathing.

“After ten seconds, his breathing stopped. I asked my two friends who were holding his hands if there was any pulse and they both said ‘no’.”

He said the control room staff then asked him to give the man a heart massage. “I’d never done that before in my life so I was very panicky. Like they told me, I put both my hands on his chest.

“They told me to press down twice every second, at least two inches, for at least four minutes. I started doing that. About two minutes and 30 seconds later we got a pulse.”

Billy said he was told to continue massaging the patient until the ambulance arrived.

He said the man began breathing again, and said to everyone at the scene: “I’ve heard everything lads – thank you very much.”

Billy said the ambulance staff told him that the man was going to be fine. “I was very, very happy for the man because he started breathing again, and I felt a bit proud of us – basically we’d just saved a life.”


Ambulance service praises Billy’s actions

YORKSHIRE Ambulance Service said Billy Pinner coped well in what must have been a difficult situation.

A spokesperson said: “Often people are hesitant about stopping at such incidents and he should be praised for his actions.”

The spokesperson said that, when the service received Mr Pinner’s call at 1.56am, it immediately dispatched a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance to the patient. “The 999 call taker remained on the line asking the caller questions to determine the condition of the patient whilst assistance was on route. Staff in our 999 communications centres are trained to deliver advice and instruction on how to care for patients until the arrival of an ambulance, which was the case on this occasion. The 999 call taker was able to reassure the caller and talk him through instructions on how he could provide help to the patient until the arrival of the ambulance crew.