Street Pastor tells of moment he rushed to help injured man

AN off-duty Street Pastor rushed to help an unconscious man who had been left on the floor fitting after being attacked.

Trevor Briers was queuing at a chip shop in Holbrooks when a young woman burst in, shouting that her boyfriend had been attacked and was fitting.

Mr Briers, 59, sprang into action.

“My immediate response was to drop my chips and run outside to help him,” he said.

He helped to support the young man’s shoulder so that his head wasn’t banging on the pavement as he fitted.

Paramedics were on scene within five or six minutes, he added, and took over.

The incident unfolded on Glentworth Avenue in Holbrooks shortly before 8pm on Saturday.

Mr Briers said he has been left shaken by the incident but stressed that it is “not about me” and praised the Street Pastors Coventry who gave him the experience and confidence to deal with the situation.

“I didn’t sleep much last night, it has affected me,” he said. “But for the grace of God, it could have been my son last night, or any of the nights we help people in the city centre.

“We are all praying for the young man’s recovery.”

“It was about a quarter to eight and I was queuing to collect my chips when a young lady ran in quite hysterical, saying her boyfriend had been attacked and was fitting,” Mr Briers said.

“My immediate response was to drop my chips and run out and help him.

“This is what we are trained to do - although with the Street Pastors we would normally have people to help with things like crowd control.

“This time I was on my own. “The young man was violently fitting and was unconscious, banging his head repeatedly on the pavement.

“I supported his head and neck with my left arm and started talking to him. I firmly but gently pinned his shoulder down to try and control his body.”

While this was ongoing, Mr Briers said he was also trying to control a crowd that had gathered, urging them to step back and give the young man some space.

“They responded really well,” he added. “A lady from the chip shop came out to help and I asked her to fetch some water from my van nearby so I could wash his face. She was marvellous.”

Mr Briers has been volunteering with the Street Pastors in Coventry for four years. In groups of four or five they go into the city centre at night to help those who are drunk, lost, homeless or confused.

He said he would encourage everyone to have some level of first aid training.

“We won’t all be experts like paramedics, but we all should know how to administer the recovery position, and about breathing and airways,” he said. He goes out with the Street Pastors around once a month, and describes it as the “most taxing five or six hours of my life,” - but added: “I love it.”

“If you can look out for other people’s sons and daughters then someone might be there to look after yours,” he said. “We should all be doing a bit of that.”