Pair hailed after reviving pensioner who '˜died' in Screwfix car park

Ben Taylor and Danny Mustin sprang into action after the 82-year-old’s Vauxhall Astra shot backwards and hit a parked Subaru Impreza in Marton.

They revived the ashen-faced pensioner, who was not breathing and had no pulse, several times before paramedics arrived.

And with the motorist now in Blackpool Victoria Hospital making a ‘good recovery’ after an emergency heart operation, they have been praised for their life-saving actions.

Opposition leader at the town hall, Coun Tony Williams, said: “It just shows you if people make the effort to learn CPR, it saves lives.

“How fortunate for this chap to have two good citizens who have saved his life.”

The accident happened after the OAP had been to Screwfix, off Vicarage Lane, at around 11am on Tuesday.

Builder Danny 46, was stood behind him in the queue with his son Louis, 21, and said: “He was swaying a bit but you think because it’s an old boy, he’s just unsteady on his feet.

“He left the store and I was stood waiting for my goods when all of a sudden I heard this really loud revving.

“I looked outside and his was in reverse. It just continued going and hit a guy’s car who works in Halfords.”

Ben, 25, of Layton, was waiting for the man to reverse out of his car parking space while on his way to nearby Euro Car Parts.

He said he saw him ‘slumped’ over, moments before the automatic car ‘shot backwards’.

Jumping out of his own car, he turned off the Astra’s ignition before helping the man onto the ground and starting CPR he learned on a factory first aid course.

He said: “I was screaming for help because he was not breathing. A few people came running out of Screwfix. Danny took over from me and carried on with CPR while I ran the ambulance.

“The man was not responsive and was not breathing. There was no pulse.”

Danny, of Pedders Lane, said: “He was as grey as grey can be. I had to give CPR for 11 minutes. Louis went to the boot of the car, grabbed a blanket, took his jacket off, and covered him to keep him warm.

“We lost him at least five times. I thought, ‘This is someone’s dad or grandad.’

“If it was me, I would not somebody to give up on me.

“Every young man there was fantastic. Nobody was filming it on their phone – they were asking if there was anything we needed.”

Danny, who took a first aid course when he lived down south, said the man had a scar from a previous heart operation, and said it was a ‘relief’ when he was finally taken to hospital.

“The paramedics got there as quickly as they could and were absolutely fantastic,” he said.

“One said, ‘You are all heroes’,’ but as far as I’m concerned, they are the heroes.”

And Ben added: “The paramedic said without all of us the guy would not be here now. He got shocked three or four times it was that serious.

“I went home and cried. It was pretty emotional. People are saying I’m a hero but I’m not. I just did what any normal person would do.

“When I found out he was alright I felt on top of the world.”

The pensioner, whose family has thanked those involved in helping him, is doing well following surgery, police said. He is understood to have had a pacemaker fitted.

A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said: “Once a person has gone into cardiac arrest, there are only a vital few minutes in which there’s a chance to save their life as every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces chances of survival by up to 10 per cent.

“This is why it is so important for people in the community to learn simple life-saving skills as starting CPR as soon as possible, even before an ambulance is able to get there, can dramatically improve a patient’s chance of survival.

“It’s important for people to remember that they cannot make someone in cardiac arrest any worse and not to be afraid to start CPR should they need to.

“Anyone willing to take action to help someone in a life-threatening emergency should be commended.”

Sgt Steve Hardman, from the Road Policing Unit, added: “We want to establish exactly what has happened.

“I am keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the driver in his vehicle prior to the collision or ... witnessed the collision between the two vehicles.”