Man’s 999 ‘I’m dying’ plea plight to feature in BBC documentary
Tony Dakers, of Hemsworth, was home alone getting ready for work as a maintenance engineer the day after his 61st birthday on November 5 when he collapsed and called for help, telling 999 staff “I’m dying”.
Paramedics rushed to the scene as it emerged that the father-of-one had suffered a triple abdominal aortic aneurism – a swelling of the largest blood vessel in the body – and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary.
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Hide AdTony, who spent seven weeks in hospital, will feature as part of the ‘An Hour to Save Your Life’ series on BBC Two on Tuesday at 9pm.
“I felt like I was thumped in the middle of the back. I knew it was something serious, so I managed to crawl into the bedroom and rang my mother-in-law to tell her to call an ambulance. They rang me and asked if I was okay and I just said ‘I’m dying’.”
On arrival at LGI Tony was fast-tracked to the Leeds trauma unit where surgeons fought to stop his massive bleeding, which was causing his kidneys and bowel to shut down. They were successful but complications followed when he developed blood clots in his legs that resulted in further procedures.
Tony, who has since raised over £700 for Leeds hospitals, added: “The most upsetting thing is talking about for other people, what they went through and what it would have been like if I’d have died.”
The An Hour to Save Your Life series follows doctors and patients who face making life or death decisions during the first hour of emergency care.