Stourbridge shoppers help as man suffers medical emergency

The man, believed to be in his early 60s, collapsed while walking in Bell Street.

Stourbridge resident Pete Wallace, print audience and content editor for the Stourbridge News and other local newspapers, saw the man fall to the floor and said he immediately called 999.

Other passersby also stopped to help, including a nurse who carried out CPR and first aiders from the nearby Crystal Leisure Centre.

A community defibrillator was also reportedly sought and used ahead of the arrival of paramedics.

West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed it received a report of a medical emergency in Bell Street at around 1.04pm on Saturday January 13 and sent two ambulances, a paramedic officer and the Midlands Air Ambulance Critical Care Car to the scene.

A spokesperson for the ambulance service said: “On arrival we discovered one patient, a man, who was in a critical condition.

“Ambulance staff immediately began administering specialist trauma care before transporting the patient to New Cross Hospital.”

Pete, aged 56, said time seemed to stand still as the drama unfolded and he later took to Facebook to praise all those who rushed to help, saying: “Massive shout to the Crystal first aiders; the nurse who abandoned her car in the middle of the road to assist; and especially to the ambulance crews who, hopefully, saved his life. Not all heroes wear capes.”

The man was reportedly breathing unaided as he was taken on blue lights to hospital but no further update on his condition has been