Community pharmacist hailed a hero after helping to save the lives of two people in a matter of months

A community pharmacist has been hailed a life-saving hero twice in a matter of months.
Adam Ahmed Patel with a customerAdam Ahmed Patel with a customer
Adam Ahmed Patel with a customer

Batley-born Adam Ahmed Patel, 47, is store manager and pharmacist at Boots the chemist in Mirfield town centre.

Twice in the last year he has proved a life-saver as pharmacies moved onto the NHS frontline.

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On the latest occasion in October, Mr Patel took a call from a woman who had taken an overdose – then a few hours later changed her mind.

Adam Ahmed Patel and a customer at the pharmacyAdam Ahmed Patel and a customer at the pharmacy
Adam Ahmed Patel and a customer at the pharmacy

Fearing hospitals and the emergency services were too busy to help she rang the pharmacy and pleaded: “Help me, help me! I don’t want to die.”

Cool-headed Mr Patel calmed the woman and spoke to her for 20 minutes, piecing together what had happened – and finding out where she lived so paramedics could be sent out.

The woman survived and, amazingly, it was the second time in a matter of months that his quick-thinking and calmness under pressure had saved a life.

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A daughter brought her mum into the pharmacy in January last year with a severe headache and a rash, classic symptoms of the potentially deadly brain bug meningitis.

He told the daughter to take her mum to A&E immediately and rang Dewsbury & District Hospital to tell them a suspected meningitis patient was on the way.

A modest Mr Patel said: “I’m no hero. I’m just glad to be in a position to help people.”

Recalling the dramatic phone call last October, he said: “I answered the phone myself and a woman’s voice said: ‘Help me, help me! I don’t want to die.’

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“She was panicking but when I was able to calm her down and talk to her she said she had taken an overdose at 5.30am but now she didn’t want to die. The tablets had kicked in and she was sweating and her heart was beating out of her chest.

“She did not want to ring 999, she thought she was insignificant. I told her she was a valuable human being.”

Mr Patel got the woman’s address – she wasn’t from Mirfield – and he was able to send paramedics to her.

“I don’t know who she was,” he said. “But she has since rung the shop to thank me. Sadly, I wasn’t here to speak to her.”

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Last January, Mr Patel was also able to help the woman with meningitis. Later her daughter posted her thanks on the Healthwatch Kirklees website.

She wrote: “I was shaking and he was very calm. He phoned the hospital and told the woman on the phone he was sending a referral for suspected meningitis and for them to look out for me.

“I went to hospital where, because of his phone call, we were taken straight in as soon as I mentioned his name.

“My mum was treated for meningitis and was in hospital for a few days. The consultant when talking to me praised the pharmacist for recognising and acting very quickly, most likely saving her life.”

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Mr Patel has been invited to the World Retail Congress in Italy in September where Boots bosses will tell how Mr Pateland his eight staff have gone above and beyond during Covid.

He has also been shortlisted in the Frontline Hero – Store Manager category at the Retail Week Awards in June.

Mr Patel, who lives in Batley and has been a pharmacist for 25 years, said the pandemic had thrust community pharmacists into the NHS frontline when GPs, hospitals and dentists were under pressure.

“We were the first point of contact for people and I can help in 60 per cent of cases. That’s where pharmacies have really stepped up. Even Boris Johnson says go to the pharmacy!”

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With dentists struggling, Mr Patel has even found himself triaging dental patients. That’s also led to praise from Woods, the Mirfield dental practice.

Kirklees Council has also recognised Mr Patel, naming him as one of their Covid Heroes.