Mercy crew save TV ghost-hunter
The TV investigator of the paranormal was rushed to Royal Derby Hospital by his son after he started bleeding after a routine procedure. But as they were driving through Mickleover, Richard, the star of Living series Most Haunted, passed out after losing substantial amounts of blood.
His son, Will, thought Richard had died and screeched to a stop outside Mickleover ambulance depot, in Station Road, to get help.
Paramedics Allan Gale and Sarah-Jane Hitchcock (pictured), who had just turned up for their shift, and their team leader, Karen David, who was just about to end hers, sprang into action.
They gave Richard first aid, lifted him into a nearby ambulance and rushed him to hospital for emergency surgery.
Richard, who has now recovered, has personally thanked the East Midlands Ambulance Service team, whom he believes saved his life.
"I can't explain how good the ambulance staff were. If it wasn't for them, who knows what could've happened?
"But thanks to them, I've lived to tell the tale."
Incredibly, it was the second time Richard has cheated death, after being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 18, and undergoing radiotherapy until he was declared in remission on his 19th birthday.
Richard has now invited the ambulance team, their colleagues, family and friends on a VIP ghost tour through the city as a way of thanking them.
He said: "We live about nine miles out of Derby and, because of the time it would have taken for an ambulance to reach us, my son decided he would drive me to hospital instead.
"When we turned on to Station Road, I started to feel very unwell. Then my head just lolled back and I fainted. The next thing I remember was waking up outside the ambulance station."
The drama unfolded 10 days after Richard underwent a colonoscopy at Royal Derby Hospital, formerly known as Derby City General.
And Richard, who lives in Thurvaston, near Ashbourne, said he could only sit and watch in a daze as his son raced through the ambulance station, screaming for help.
He said: "When I came round, I said 'what are we doing here', but my wife, Julia, who was sitting in the back seat, just told me to shut up.
"A couple of paramedics who rushed to help told me I looked like a ghost because I was so pale and my lips were blue."
Karen, the paramedic team leader at the station, and Allan, an emergency care assistant, rushed out to help.
Paramedic Sarah-Jane then joined the pair and they lifted Richard into the back of an ambulance, which had been dropped off at the station only minutes before.
Mr Gale said: "We were just about to start our shift when I heard someone come through the door, asking if anybody was there and shouting that his dad was really unwell."
Ms Hitchcock said: "When we first attended Richard, he was really grey and he had passed out.
"It was strange seeing him again but he looks much better now – he looks much less like a ghost!"
Richard, whose work has seen him tour haunted buildings alongside paranormal medium Derek Acorah, said he missed out on a "near-death experience".
He said: "I would love to say that while I was unconscious I saw the light, but I didn't. Although when they took me out of the ambulance I nearly died then because I've never seen so much blood."
Julia Felix said the shocking experience had given their family a fresh outlook on life.
She said: "I honestly can't remember the journey to the ambulance station – it was like a dream. But I can remember how fantastic the paramedics were. They are life-savers.
"I truly believe it was meant to be that we turned up at the ambulance station at the same time the paramedics did."
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