This weekend, Bengt Ström, bus driver at Skånetrafiken, drove the trip between Hässleholm and Sibbhult.
Ten minutes into the journey, the bus stops at a stop where two cars are parked. Bengt gets out to see if anything has happened.
An elderly woman is lying on the ground without a pulse or breathing. According to the people in the cars that stopped, about a minute has passed since the woman collapsed.
Bengt runs into the bus to get his jacket and asks the passengers to wait. Then he goes outside, puts the jacket under the woman’s head and starts cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
– I have to hold on for a little while, says Bengt Ström in Efter fem.
“Eventually returning to life”
Bengt Ström and another person who stops their car take turns giving the woman CPR until the ambulance arrives at the scene.
Bengt Ström and the other person, a woman with medical training, continue to assist the paramedics with cardiac compressions, and after a while the woman begins to show signs of life.
– She eventually returns to life, says Bengt Ström.
For Bengt Ström, it was a given to stay and help, and he describes the feeling when he saw the woman start to come to life as “enormous”.
– It was like winning a million in the lottery. It is indescribable, says Bengt Ström.
Is on the road to recovery
After the operation, Bengt and an ambulance attendant give each other a long hug, and even inside the bus the feelings are strong among the passengers who have seen everything. A passenger sheds a tear.
The woman who collapsed at the bus stop is today on the road to recovery. Bengt Ström has been in contact with her daughter, and will contact the woman as soon as possible.
– I want to express my thanks to other stars as well, and it is the ambulance staff in Hässleholm and also my managers who have given me incredible support after this, says Bengt Ström.