A HEROIC former Army medic has described how he saved a delivery driver’s life by performing CPR for 20 minutes at the scene of a serious crash in Colchester.

Scott Davies, 46, was visiting a friend’s home in Mersea Road, on Saturday evening when he heard a “massive smash” outside.

The personal trainer, who spent nine years as a paramedic with the Royal Army Medical Corps, rushed outside to see if he could assist.

He said: “We were sat down and watching the TV and heard this massive smash and a horn continue to sound.

“The junction is notorious for crashes and we have seen lots of little ones before but this was something different. I must have been out there within 60 seconds.”

Scott first checked on a couple and their three young children in one vehicle before noticing the unconscious driver inside a Tesco delivery van.

He said: “The van was full of smoke from the air bag going off and the horn was stuck on.

“He had his seat belt on and I just tried to get a response out of him. I got a response by eye contact and he was looking at me.”

Scott, who served in the likes of Bosnia and Germany, realised the driver of the van was in cardiac arrest.

He said: “The last thing you want to do is move someone after a crash but we had no choice.

“Two members of the public helped me get him out of his car. I started doing CPR on him and a couple of people helped me.

“The police arrived in five or six minutes and then the fire brigade turned up. They brought their heart start defibrillator with them.

“They tried it on him but he didn’t come back. The ambulance then arrived. I carried on working on him whilst they got ready to take over.”

Police say the man, in his 40s, fell ill behind the wheel before colliding with the other vehicle.

He was taken to Basildon Hospital in a life-threatening condition but without Scott’s intervention he wouldn’t have made it that far.

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Scott said: “He wouldn’t have survived if we didn’t get him out of that van. I must have been doing CPR for 20 minutes.

“You never forget your training, it just kicks back in again. I did everything I could for him.”