Community leader hailed a hero
Published: July 10, 2007
A COMMUNITY leader has been hailed a hero after his quick thinking helped save his neighbour.
Former Nunnery Lane Residents Association chairman Keith Chapman realised his frail 82-year-old neighbour had suffered a bad fall at her home after seeing her lying on the floor through a window.
But the campaigning 60-year-old wants the episode to be used to highlight the importance of the council’s warden call system for old people living alone.
On this occasion, Mr Chapman called for paramedics and the wardens of the sheltered housing in Gascoigne Walk.
The paramedics arrived within ten minutes but because it was 5pm, and the wardens were coming from Clifton, it took half an hour for them to arrive with a spare key to open the door of the house in Nunnery Lane.
The 82-year-old widow, who did not want to be named, was taken to York Hospital suffering from two black eyes and a broken nose after she fell against a table and was left lying unconscious on the floor.
The incident happened last Thursday at around 5pm and the injured widow spent a day in hospital afterwards, recovering from her injuries. She is still very badly bruised.
She said: “I’m really thankful to Keith, if he hadn’t come along I could have been laid there all night. He’s a great help to a lot of people who live around here and a good neighbour to have.”
Now Mr Chapman says he’d like to see the wardens being allowed to use flashing green lights similar to the ones doctors use in their cars in an emergency, to help cut through the traffic when necessary.
Mr Chapman, of Custance Walk, said: “In this case the lady was wearing her pendant button but could not call the warden because she was knocked unconscious.
“It goes to show though how valuable warden call is to older people and that we should fight tooth and nail if the council ever tries to take it away.
“Here the ambulance crew were reluctant to break down the door unless it was absolutely necessary and had to wait for the key to come half way across the city.
“I’d like to see the wardens given green lights for use in such emergencies so they don’t have to sit in traffic queues.”
A City of York Council spokesperson said: “We are very proud of the out-of-hours service that we provide and thank Mr Chapman for his comments.
“It is not classed as an emergency service so we have to negotiate the traffic and abide by the same rules as any other motorists, although we do, of course, try to respond as quickly as possible.”
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