Dannevirke: Volunteers become rescuers

Dannevirke's St John health shuttle volunteers' have been credited as heroes after going above and beyond to save the lives of those it relies on. Pictured is Dannevirke volunteer, Glennis McDonald.

Dannevirke's volunteer-run St John health shuttle is vital to the health and well-being of our community and last week, for one elderly man, the volunteers were lifesavers.

A Dannevirke St John Health Shuttle team had serious concerns when calling to collect an elderly man living on his own last week. They failed to get answers when knocking on the man's door and when he didn't respond to phone calls the volunteers could have assumed the man wasn't at home and continued their daily run.

However, the fact the Hawke's Bay Today newspaper was still lying on the man's doorstep at lunchtime gave indications to the alert team that something was wrong.

Investigating further, they found the man lying injured and semiconscious on the floor. It appeared he may have fallen the previous night as his meal was untouched. He was taken by ambulance to Palmerston North Hospital where he is in a stable condition.

Dannevirke's St John health shuttle is run by 50 dedicated volunteers with the service becoming increasingly busy.

Don Stewart of Dannevirke St John said the 6am shuttle ran three days a week and was "chocka", while the three shuttles and car on the road for the service travelled 13,670km in July. The vehicles made 462 trips to Palmerston North and Wellington, along with 46 trips around Dannevirke as the volunteers worked 989 hours, carrying 317 passengers.

And Mr Stewart has told the Dannevirke News the volunteers, go beyond the call of duty for their passengers.