Stroke sufferer meets his hero

More than two years after he was rescued from a roadside ditch after suffering a stroke, a 73-year-old man has met his saviour.

The Manawatu Standard last week reported Roger Herd’s public appeal to find the man who kept him alive, and on Monday the pair finally met.

Help from readers revealed Feilding man Ian Gilchrist as the unsung hero and he was typically modest about the situation he faced in December 2014.

‘‘All I did was make a phone call. The paramedics did the rest,’’ he said.

‘‘I just hope what I did, people will do for others. I hope someone would do that for me.’’

Herd was having none of that, thanking Gilchrist profusely for his ‘‘timely intervention’’ and saying he was grateful he could finally thank him in person.

‘‘It would have been a very different outcome if it hadn’t been for Ian and my wife [Judith].

‘‘I just thank my lucky stars every morning.’’

It was Christmas time 2014. Herd, his wife and their grandchildren were at the Colyton Clock museum in Manawatu for the annual light display.

Herd said his stroke happened without warning.

He remembers wobbling on his feet and slumping into the grass. From the darkness, a man he knew only as Ian comforted him and said help was on its way.

Gilchrist had been watching the lights with his wife Lynn, when someone said another man was not feeling well.

They walked across the road to help Herd and ’’knew straight away something wasn’t right’’.

Herd’s eye and mouth had begun drooping and Gilchrist believed he was having a stroke.

He immediately called an ambulance.

Herd said he tried to answer Gilchrist’s questions, but it ‘‘was talking like a drunk’’.

At the time, he thought Gilchrist had said he was a paramedic. But Gilchrist clarified on Monday, saying that although he had spent time in the Feilding Volunteer Fire Brigade, he was not a paramedic.

He simply called them to help Herd.

Herd was back to full health, but said he wanted people to be aware of what to do if they saws someone who appeared to be having a stroke.

He reminded people about the FAST campaign, which encourages people to look for face drooping, arm weakness and slurred speech. If any of these symptoms are present, people should call 111.