"I owe my life to the AA – literally"

"I’m a self-employed courier delivering large parcels for a local company. One September morning a couple of years ago, I was in my van when I started to experience very bad dizzy spells. This meant that my driving was erratic to say the least. What's more, the van wasn’t starting properly in between deliveries and I was getting behind schedule.

"Eventually, I thought enough is enough and managed to phone the AA. But only after I'd dropped my mobile several times. The AA said that they’d get someone out to look at the van within half an hour. By this time I was beginning to drift in and out of consciousness, slumped over the steering wheel.

"I don’t know how much time had passed, but it can’t have been long, when I was startled out of my semi-conscious state by a knock on the driver’s window. It was the AA patrol. As I got out of the van to tell him what was wrong with it, I fell into his arms. He immediately realised that I was having a stroke and he sat me down on the road and told me not to move. He then called an ambulance, which raced me to hospital. I’ve since learned that that period of time was crucial to my survival.

"While I was in the ambulance, the patrol informed my depot about what had happened, and arranged recovery of the van for decanting, then a tow to a garage for repair. From start to finish the AA were truly professional – and like I said, I owe them my life."

Mr Plant, AA Member