Man who had a heart attack on M65 near Blackburn searching for drivers who saved his life
Jamie Gill was driving along the M65 when he collapsed at the wheel
Last updated 27th Aug 2021
A man who suffered a cardiac arrest driving on the motorway near Blackburn is searching for the delivery drivers who saved his life.
35-year-old Jamie Gill, from Keighley near Bradford, was driving along the M65 at around 6.30am on Tuesday (24 August 2021) when he began to feel unwell and collapsed behind the wheel.
A delivery driver, who Jamie believes works for furniture company Harveys, managed to use his van to force Jamie's car into the central reservation to stop him from swerving uncontrollably.
The impact woke Jamie up so he was able to pull over onto the hard shoulder, where he collapsed again.
The last thing he remembers is being put in the ambulance and seeing an image of a sofa on the side of the delivery van.
He exclusively told Bauer Media: "I got onto the motorway and started to feel really weird and like I was getting a headrush.
"I thought that I needed to pull over but by that time I'd blacked out. Luckily the van next to me with two lads in it had seen me slumped over the steering wheel.
"They apparently tried to wake me up by beeping the horns to stop me from steering all over the road. They managed to get alongside me and used their van as a kind of bumper car and bumped be into the central reservation.
"This woke me up for a short time and I was able to pull into the hard shoulder. They came over and were tapping on the window but I was completely out of it and I passed out again on the floor.
"They waited with me and called the ambulance. They literally saved my life and saved me from hitting other people as well.
"Hopefully I can reunite with them, shake their hands and buy them a beer."
Jamie is now being treated at Airedale Hospital for an atrial flutter which is a type of abnormal heart rhythm. It occurs when a short circuit in the heart causes the upper chambers to pump very rapidly.
Jamie, added: "I'm not feeling 100% myself but I'm just lucky to have walked away from it without a scratch on me. Someone is definitely watching over me."