A YORK bus driver has been hailed for saving the life of a pedestrian who had collapsed on a pavement.

Dave Green was driving First York’s 66 bus towards Heslington East late on Sunday afternoon when he saw a woman screaming and a man lying on the ground.

A First spokesman said the bus had a small number of passengers on board and the driver made the vehicle safe before jumping off and immediately putting the man into the recovery position.

“He identified that the gentleman was not breathing and performed CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation),” he said. “A gentleman on the bus contacted emergency services. Emergency services arrived and stabilised the gentleman, who was then put in the ambulance.”

He said the York man, who is 54 and had suffered a cardiac arrest, was now in a stable condition in intensive care at York Hospital and his wife had contacted First to say she wanted to thank the driver for saving his life.

He said Dave, 62, from York, had started working for First in May last year and had been trained in how to perform CPR in a previous job working in the health service.

First was now putting him forward for an award and he had been invited into the office to receive personal recognition for his efforts from the firm’s managing director.

“We’re very proud of Dave and his quick thinking actions to help the gentleman in distress,” said the spokesman.

“His behaviour is a great example of the dedication and support provided by our team of nearly 300 colleagues across York’s communities.”

Dave said he had learnt CPR when he had previously worked as a support worker at York House in Heslington Road, a rehabilitation hospital for people with acquired brain injury (ABI) but this was the first time he had had to use it.

He said of his experiences on Sunday: “I was on my last run of the day and was driving down to the terminus at Heslington East when I saw this couple walking along.

“I had my window open and I then heard the lady screaming and I looked out and saw he had collapsed on the pavement.

“I stopped the bus and ran across. He had hit his head hard on the ground and he was pouring with blood. She was screaming ‘help, help, help!'.

“He was unconscious and I put him in recovery position.

“A passenger on the bus had called the ambulance service and then I noticed the man’s eyes starting to dilate. We told the operator and she said I needed to do CPR so I put him on his back and started pumping his chest.

“After about a minute I could hear him give a gasp for air and I knew I was on the right tracks.

“I carried on doing it and the ambulance arrived after about five minutes, and they got out the defibrillation equipment and started to shock him, while I carried on doing CPR.

“It’s just so fortunate that my bus happened to be going past when he collapsed. I am just so pleased to hear he is doing OK and would like to pass on my best wishes to him and his wife.”