How hero postman saved man's life after he collapsed outside Stourbridge sorting office

The quick actions and bravery of a postman who saved a man's life have been highlighted in an emotional video.

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Dan Howells was reunited with Darryl and Anne Taylor for a video campaign around CPR and how Mr Howells managed to help save the life of Mr Taylor after he collapsed outside Stourbridge sorting office in November 23.

Mr Howells administered CPR for around 15 minutes to 78-year-old Mr Taylor, who had hit his head during the fall and stopped breathing, following Mr Taylor's wife Anne raising the alarm.

Darryl Taylor called Dan Howells a hero for saving his life. Image: Royal Mailplaceholder image
Darryl Taylor called Dan Howells a hero for saving his life. Image: Royal Mail

West Midlands Ambulance Service also provided instructions over the phone and when a paramedic team arrived and immediately took over resuscitation efforts, the work by Mr Howells helped Mr Taylor to regain conciousness and be relayed to Russell's Hall Hospital for further treatment.

In the video, Mr Taylor said he remembered going to the post office on a Wednesday afternoon with his wife, then waking up in hospital on the Thursday evening.

He said: "We'd been out and there was a letter saying there was a parcel, and I'd been waiting for this parcel, so I'd gone down.

"I remember going in there and it was on the Wednesday and the next think I remember is Thursday night in the hospital."

Darryl Taylor and Dan Howells are shown hugging during the video. Image: Royal Mailplaceholder image
Darryl Taylor and Dan Howells are shown hugging during the video. Image: Royal Mail

Mr Howells said he had just started his shift that day and had met Mr Taylor, who he said had misunderstood where the service delivery point was and had directed him towards it, before seeing Mrs Taylor run through a few minutes later to say that her husband had collapsed.

He said: "When I found him, he was on the floor, unconscious and with blood coming from his head.

"I didn't even think, to be honest, I just reacted to it and the first think I did, obviously, was phone the emergency services and speak to an operator.

"They explained to me that Darryl had gone into cardiac arrest, so basically start CPR straight away and the CPR went on for 15 minutes, 2 compressions a second for 15 minutes, which is a long time."

Dan Howells said he didn't even stop to think and just started doing CPR to Darryl Taylor. Image: Royal Mailplaceholder image
Dan Howells said he didn't even stop to think and just started doing CPR to Darryl Taylor. Image: Royal Mail

Both Mr and Mrs Taylor said they couldn't believe how Mr Howells had managed to keep going for that long doing CPR, with Mr Howells saying he was quite a "stubborn person" and was not going to give up until the ambulance service had turned up.

Mrs Taylor also said Mr Howells was a hero saying: "I was so grateful as my husband survived and he deserves a medal and deserves all the recognition we can give him, he really does."

Mr Taylor, who has since made a full recovery, said: "What can I say to him? He's a hero and he saved my life. What more can you say?"

The full video can be download and viewed by going to vimeo.com/user46713488/download/808756148/b7f995cd79

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