August 31, 2016 11.29 am This story is over 91 months old

Lifesaving war hero rescues elderly Sleaford motorist slumped over wheel

An Afghanistan war hero and engineer has been hailed a lifesaver after rescuing a stricken Sleaford motorist who was slumped over the wheel of her vehicle. Neil Sayce, 36, who works as a customer service engineer for Openreach, BT’s local network business, was driving along Grantham Road when a car hit a traffic sign, before…
Lifesaving BT Openreach engineer Neil Sayce

An Afghanistan war hero and engineer has been hailed a lifesaver after rescuing a stricken Sleaford motorist who was slumped over the wheel of her vehicle.

Neil Sayce, 36, who works as a customer service engineer for Openreach, BT’s local network business, was driving along Grantham Road when a car hit a traffic sign, before coming to rest a short distance later.

He found the elderly driver of the vehicle drifting in and out of consciousness.

Neil used first aid skills he learned during his 16-year army career to stay with the lady, talking to her to make sure she remained conscious until an ambulance arrived.

This was third time in as many years that Neil had successfully given first aid at the scene of road accidents.

Neil, who has completed four tours of duty in Afghanistan, said: “My army training means there’s not a lot I haven’t seen. I was able to remain calm and knew it was vital to keep her conscious.

I talked to her and checked her breathing and pulse. I feared she was going to die.

“I was relieved when the lady’s family contacted me later to say she’d discharged herself from hospital and was recovering.”

Local resident Margaret Harrold was driving along the same stretch of road and was the first on the scene.

She said: “Neil was amazing and quickly took over the situation. He made sure the lady did not get out of her car and suggested I rang an ambulance straight away.

“She was not responding to anything he was saying and he was fearful she was going into a possibly fatal coma.

“For the next 50 minutes or so, Neil knelt beside the car making sure the lady did not go to sleep.

“She kept going in and out of consciousness and he did a remarkable job of talking to her throughout this time.

“Every time she came round he tried to engage her in familiar conversation, such as how many children she had and what they were called.”