Cabbie hero saved my life

7:00am Thursday 30th October 2008

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A QUICK-thinking taxi driver has been hailed a hero after he saved the life of a passenger.

Stuart Smith, who works for Poole Radio Cabs, performed emergency CPR on 22-year-old Aiden Smith after he suffered a cardiac arrest in the back of the cab.

Despite having no medical training whatsoever, Stuart, 39, managed to keep Aiden alive until paramedics arrived and took over.

Aiden, a kidney transplant patient who has suffered a lifetime of health problems, is now recovering in the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

His mother Lynne Smith, of Wallisdown, said: “Stuart brought Aiden back from the dead and I cannot thank him enough.

“Aiden had had a car accident a few weeks ago and that was why he was in a taxi. If he hadn’t had that accident, he would have been driving and the consequences don’t bear thinking about.

“Aiden has lost some of his memory but I think he realises that he would not be here now if it had not been for the taxi driver.

“I think Stuart deserves a medal or something. Not many people would have done what he did.”

Stuart, of Hewitt Road, Hamworthy, has since visited Aiden in hospital and is glad to see him recovering well.

He admits the incident left him shaken up: “I could see he was having some kind of fit so I pulled over and dialled 999. I got him out of the car with the help of a passer-by. He wasn’t breathing at all, nothing was happening.

“The lady on the phone talked me through giving him CPR, which I had never done before.

“It wasn’t until it all finished that the reality of what had happened hit me. I have visited Aiden and he thanked me for all I had done. But I am sure anybody else would have done the same thing.”