Sheffield bus driver wins national award after helping customer suffering from heart attack

Drivers at Stagecoach Yorkshire are well known for their ethos of ‘we’ve got you’ and, now, one of their number has won a prestigious national award in recognition of his dedication to that ethos, after supporting a customer suspected of having a heart attack.

Derek Parker, a Driver at the Ecclesfield depot in Sheffield, won a Stagecoach Star of the Month Award, in the category of ‘Supporting communities’, after showing care and compassion for the young woman. He won ahead of applicants from across the 26,000 colleagues who work for the UK’s biggest bus company.

The customer fell ill on Derek’s bus, with the symptoms of a heart attack. Showing great care, Derek tended to her and spoke with her, asking questions relating to the nature of her illness. The customer passed her mobile phone to him, and he spoke with her sister, who informed him that she had recently had a heart attack.

It was agreed that he would not leave her to travel unaccompanied and, instead, would stay with her to meet her sister.

However, as the bus continued, the passenger became clammy and disorientated, and an ambulance was called. The customer was tended to and taken to hospital.

Matt Kitchin, Managing Director of Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “Derek did a wonderful thing, which truly reflects how we see our services as being at the very heart of our communities. Our customers and our communities are important to us because we are part of those communities, so, it is very appropriate that he has won this award.

“Both the customer and her sister have contacted us to thank Derek for his professionalism and care throughout the situation, and wanted to pass on their gratitude. So, thank you, Derek, you truly are our hero of the month.”

The award comes just days after another of Stagecoach Yorkshire’s local Drivers, Chicara Mattis, won praise for helping a pedestrian who had collapsed with symptoms of a seizure,

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