Men help OAP taken ill in car

The 70-year-old was rushed to hospital having suffered a suspected heart attack while driving through the resort on Tuesday afternoon.

Andrew Best was in his store, AllSorts Cheaper4U, when he spotted something wasn’t right.

The 47-year-old said: “I was in the shop and all of a sudden you could see the traffic had come to a standstill.

“People had started to crowd around a car. The engine was running but it wasn’t moving.

“You could see the driver was motionless and was going pale.”

Mr Best and window cleaner Craig Burt were among those who raced to help the pensioner.

He continued: “We started banging on the windows but there was no response. We didn’t know what was wrong.

“There was no movement, the driver started going white, his lips were turning blue. We phoned an ambulance and asked them if we should smash the window.

“At first they said no but something had to be done. One guy broke the window

“Then the lad who had been in the barbers was brilliant. We got into the car and somehow got the driver out.

“He had no pulse and the lad started giving him CPR.”

That have-a-go-hero was Darren Taylor, a 37-year-old Blackpool and The Fylde College student who was at Who’s Next Barbers shop when the drama unfolded.

He never imagined using the emergency medical training learned in the Sea Cadets would be put into use but instinct took over at the scene.

Darren, of Fleetwood Road, Cleveleys, said: “The lights were on green but the cars weren’t moving.

“I could see an old person slumped at the wheel.

“Something was seriously wrong. We smashed the back window and got in.

“I managed to lay him down and checked his pulse.

“I couldn’t feel anything so I jumped in the front and started to give him CPR.

“I could see that was no good so eventually I got the door open and got him out of the car.

“I continued to try to help him until the ambulance arrived. It must have been about 15 minutes.”

Darren put into action training learned years before.

He said: “I did do CPR training in the Sea Cadets but to be honest instinct just takes over. If it had been my grandad I’d hope someone would have done the same.

“I did some defibrillator training at college recently too, that was fresh in my mind.”

The man was taken to hospital having been given treatment at the scene. He was described as being in a “stable condition” yesterday by medical staff.