A granddad who suffered a heart attack during a speeding course was threatened with a fine and prosecution while he lay fighting for his life in a coma.
David Williams, 78, was at a What’s Driving Us workshop at the Holiday Inn Filton near Bristol on Friday, July 27 when he lost consciousness, collapsed and suffered a heart attack.
The pensioner was rushed to hospital where doctors fought for more than 10 hours to save his life, Bristol Post reports , eventually inducing him into a coma after the open heart surgery.
In the week after the incident, David’s wife was inundated with letters from the course organisers and the police, threatening to prosecute him unless he paid the fine.
His granddaughter Amanda Lewis tried explaining to the police what happened, but they rejected her pleas.
She said: “The doctors said he had a tear in his aorta vein, and he was about to die.
"They had to revive him several times during the surgery.
“I think it’s just appalling. He attended the course – he just didn’t complete it because he had a heart attack. Surely they understand that?”
The police have since rescinded the fine and apologised to the family after the Post got in touch with the force.
David was caught running a red light in April this year and was ordered to either pay a £100 fine and take three points or attend a workshop.
Run by the company TTC, the Driving Us Scheme workshop was offered by the police to David because he had not committed a driving offence for more than three years.
But during the course David complained of chest pains – seconds later he collapsed and his heart stopped.
Other participants grabbed hold of him and started performing CPR before paramedics arrived.
The 78-year-old was rushed to Southmead Hospital before being transferred to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Once there, he underwent 10-hours of open heart surgery.
Doctors found a tear in his aorta artery, which brings blood to the heart.
“It was 50/50," Amanda explained.
"His heart stopped and they had to revive him several times, but after about 10 hours they managed to stabilise him."
With his life still in danger, doctors put David in an induced coma and placed him in the Intensive Care Unit.
A few days after the incident his 80-year-old wife received a letter from TTC – dated a day after the heart attack – stating that David had not completed the course and must take “urgent action”.
The firm said the case would be returned to the police for their consideration if he did not.
According to the company’s website, not completing the course in a “satisfactory way” included leaving before it had finished, not showing a willingness to participate or disrupting the course.
Amanda rang the police, explaining that her granddad was in hospital and had attended before falling ill.
She was asked for “proof” by the police, leading her to send in a sick note signed by David’s doctor.
She thought that was the end of it.
But a few days after the call was made, Avon and Somerset police sent a letter warning David had failed to comply with their requirements to complete the course.
He was given 14 days to pay the £100 fine and take the three penalty points, or face a court hearing.
“Failure to meet the Fixed Penalty requirements will result in your case being processed for a court hearing, for which you would receive a summons in due course,” the letter from the Speed Enforcement Unit read.
“Please note that any mitigating circumstances can only be considered by the court.”
With David still in a coma and fighting for his life, the family decided they had to put him first and make sure he was in the clear.
Amanda said: “I rang TTC and they said it was out of their hands with the police. The police asked me to prove it. That’s fair enough.
“So I sent them a sick note from the doctor and I thought that would be the end of it, but that’s when we received the next letter.
“I think it’s just appalling. My nan had to deal with granddad being critically ill in hospital.
“I can imagine that these things happen, but we rang them to explain what happened. Surely it should have been recorded on the course that he had to go to hospital.”
Fifteen days after David suffered the scare, he was moved to a High Dependency Unit, where he is still being cared for.
“Nan had quite a big stroke last year, and with granddad being unwell, she just worries about the little things,” Amanda said.
Last Friday, August 17, Amanda’s sister rang the police about the fine and she was told the sick note was not proof enough.
After the Bristol Post contacted Avon and Somerset police, they rang the family back to explain the fine will be rescinded and that David was now in the clear.
A spokesman for the force said: “We were sorry to hear that Mr Williams fell unwell during a speed awareness course.
“We have spoken with his family and have made arrangements to resolve their concerns.
“We wish him a swift recovery.”
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Amanda added: “We are also very grateful to the two men who helped him after he collapsed at the course.
"They [doctors] said if he fell on the floor, he would have died. They saved his life by holding onto him.
“We don’t know who they are at all, but we want to thank them. We are very grateful.”
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