'We don’t call ourselves heroes' - Pub manager and taxi driver save man's life

Dawn Axe, manager of the Waterloo on Grange Road, Weymouth, raced out of her pub after the biker fell in the St Johns Court car park at approximately 8.45pm on Thursday (August 12).

As she left the pub, her friend Ricky Cleverley joined her as they saw the man was unresponsive and instinctively knew something was wrong.

Where the biker collapsed and had to be revived by Dawn and Ricky. Picture: Dorset

Ms Axe, who is trained in CPR, said: “A very panicky woman came into the pub asking me to call 999 as a man had fallen off his motorcycle.

“We hadn’t seen any accident outside the pub but I called 999.

"As I got outside, I could hear his breathing wasn’t right.

“I held the phone to his mouth so the call operator could hear. Then he wasn't breathing and it was just a case of, ‘let’s go for it’.

"We just started CPR after lifting the bike off him.”

Mr Cleverley, a local taxi driver who was inside the pub after finishing his shift, said the pair took it in turns to perform chest compressions in a bid to revive him.

The location of where the biker collapsed - just yards from the Waterloo pub. Picture: Dorset Echo/Michael Taylor

After 20 minutes of chest compressions, the fallen motorcyclist opened his eyes and the pair carefully put him in the recovery position to clear his airway.

But the man stopped breathing again, meaning the pair had to resume CPR.

Ms Axe added: “He stopped breathing again and we turned him over again and minutes later, he was conscious again.”

Minutes later, the emergency services arrived where they were able to take over treatment before taking him to the hospital.

'We don’t class ourselves as heroes at all, we just did what we had to do'

The pair outside the Waterloo pub in Weymouth. Picture: Dorset Echo

A number of people looked on as the pair desperately tried to revive the motorcyclist on Thursday, August 12.

One witness described them as ‘incredible’.

Ms Axe said: “A lot of people were just standing there watching as we did it. We later learned it was because they couldn’t move or didn’t know what to do.

“They just watched us in awe as we just cracked on. A lot of people came up to us and said what we did was amazing.

“We don’t class ourselves as heroes at all, we just did what we had to do.”

Mr Cleverley added: “You would like to think if that happened to you, someone would do the same for you.”

The pair also praised the ‘amazing’ phone operator who gave them further instructions on CPR and was able to relay further medical advice to them.

'If we hadn’t done the CPR course, then that man wouldn’t here now'

Waterloo pub manager Dawn Axe and taxi driver Ricky Cleverley saved the life of a motorcyclist would suddenly collapsed near the pub. The pair believe that CPR should be mandatory for people to learn in schools and workplaces. Picture: Dorset

They both believe that CPR should be taught in schools and workplaces as it ‘could save someone’s life’.

Ms Axe, who admitted she last performed CPR in 2009, voluntarily learned CPR in case of an emergency while Mr Cleverley said it was mandatory for him to learn the live saving skills due to his work.

Mr Cleverley said: “These courses need to be promoted more as they can help someone. If we hadn’t done the course, then that man wouldn’t here now.

“There was a lot of people who were standing watching and they didn’t know what to do or were too scared to do something.

“If something good can come out of this terrible thing like being to get free CPR courses or encouraging businesses to teach workers these skills and courses, it would be a good thing.”

Ms Axe said: “If we did not do what we had done, he would not be here right now. I am so glad that I kept up my CPR training.

“I think everyone should learn how to do it.”

The motorcyclist’s son has since got in contact with Mr Cleverley and thanked him and Ms Axe for saving his father’s life.

According to the motorcyclist’s son, he told Mr Cleverley that he underwent emergency surgery on Thursday evening and is currently in an induced coma in hospital.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police confirmed they were called to the area after a motorcyclist had suffered a medical episode.

She said: “Dorset Police was called at around 9pm on Thursday, August 12 to a report of a single vehicle collision involving a motorcycle on Grange Road in Weymouth.

"Officers attended with the ambulance service. The rider was taken to hospital.”