Woman thanks ‘real life heroes’ who rushed to her aid during stroke scare onboard Sheffield Supertram

A woman from West Yorkshire wants to thank the ‘real life heroes’ who rushed to her aid when she suffered a medical emergency on Sheffield’s Supertram.

On Tuesday, July 11, Zoe Preston was travelling on the Blue route to her partner’s home after a day in the office in Sheffield city centre. But after just three stops, she began to experience symptoms similar to a mini-stroke she suffered 18 months ago, which took away her ability to walk for half a year.

Zoe said she was ‘petrified’ as she was overcome with dizziness, her face began to go numb, her lips tingled, and she felt as though she could not breathe properly. The 41-year-old reached out to a man sitting in front of her on the tram and asked him to call her an ambulance.

Overhearing the situation, a woman ran to press the emergency buzzer to stop the tram and alert the staff onboard, and another commuter, a nurse, helped Zoe lie down to prevent any injuries if she collapsed.

The nan-to-be from Pontefract said all three members of the public, the tram conductor and the tram driver stayed with her and held her hand to keep her calm as they relayed all her symptoms to the 999 call handler. One of the good samaritans also called Zoe’s partner, Mark Barnett, and her 23-year-old son, William, to let them know what was happening.

The former carer said: “If they hadn't been there, the panic would have set in tenfold. I don't know what state I'd have been in.”

All passengers were asked to disembark the tram before it took Zoe towards Sheffield College for a waiting ambulance to transport her to Northern General Hospital.

Zoe’s terrifying symptoms were thought to be as a result of high blood pressure caused by her previous mini-stroke. She is now home awaiting further tests, and looking forward to celebrating her 42nd birthday on Sunday with her partner and ‘pillar of strength’, Mark.

Since the incident, Zoe has been determined to track those down who helped her. She said: “Unfortunately, once you've had a mini-stroke, the likelihood of you having another or an actual stroke is quite high and it does run in my family as well, so I'm always on high alert.

“If it had been a stroke, those five people would have saved my life. I know how badly it impacted me last time and I've fought really hard to get where I am today, and to be normal again.

'Special individuals'

“I think it's important that they know they’re special individuals, there's not a lot of people like that these days. I don't know who they were, and I probably will never see them again, but they'll always hold a place in my heart, and I really mean that.”

She added: “I take every day as a blessing now after the mini-stroke, it changed my entire life when it happened. If I could get any message out to anybody, it would be to live for today because you don't know what's coming.”