Hospital parking staff who helped save the life of an elderly man who was having a heart attack have been honoured with an award.

The team at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford sprang into action when they received a message telling them to look out for a particular car carrying the patient who needed urgent treatment.

Parking manager Dean Davidson said: “We received a radio message that a car was being sent up to the blue badge car park as the passenger seemed to be having a heart attack.

“I was in the car park at the time and asked one of my colleagues to go into the emergency department to alert a nurse.

“When I spotted the car I directed it to park outside the emergency department entrance, and a nurse came out with a wheelchair.

“There was no reaction or movement from the elderly male passenger and he looked in a bad way.”

The nurse borrowed a special board from a nearby ambulance crew and Mr Davidson and his colleague Andrew Levett helped her lift the man out of the car.

He was rushed straight into the hospital for treatment.

Mr Davidson added: “Later that day I checked on the man’s condition and was told he had experienced a massive heart attack but had survived.

“It was humbling to know as a team we had played a small part in helping to save his life.

“People sometimes think our role is just to issue tickets but there is so much more to the job than that – primarily we are there to make sure everyone can park safely and get to where they need to be.

“We can make a positive difference to people’s experience of our hospitals by providing a friendly and welcoming presence and, occasionally as with this case, we can even help save lives.”

The team were presented with a Golden Heart badge and certificate by managers at East Kent Hospitals Trust to thank them for their dedication.

The scheme recognises unsung heroes across the trust and are awarded on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Staff nominate their colleagues who go the extra mile, and all nominations receive a certificate, with a handful of stand-out entries receiving the badge as well.