RAF Honington personnel were first on the scene to save the life of a passing motorist back in June and today, Mr. Darren Ruck attended the Station to personally thank his life savers.
Although he doesn’t recall much of the event himself, Darren (40), supported by his family, was extremely grateful to the personnel from RAF Honington that potentially saved his life on coincidentally what was Father’s Day 21 June 2020.
Darren had had a heart attack at the wheel of his car with his wife and children in the back when his wife, Marie, managed to grab the wheel, but they inevitably crashed off the road on Green Lane near RAF Honington.
Trainee Gunners Aircraftmen Thomas Allan and Troy Taylor-Morgan were amongst the first on the scene on their way back to Station coming the opposite direction on Green Lane. They rushed to help; removing Darren from his vehicle via the back seats of his car as the only accessible exit due to the damage. Darren was in and out of consciousness as Corporal Ed Stanley drove past and his wife, a nurse, jumped out to immediately begin CPR at the scene. She was joined by Corporal Alexander Bates who maintained the CPR assistance and Corporal Sam Waugh who also assisted at the scene.
Darren was taken to Papworth Hospital, sedated for 3 days with 5 days on a ventilator spending a total of 3 weeks between there and Addenbookes whilst he had stents and a defib fitted.
Darren still cannot remember the events of that day, but he ‘thanked god that the guys were there so soon to help’ as it could have been a very different story for Darren and his family.