When David Bray was discharged from Southmead hospital at 9.30pm on a Sunday night his phone was dead and he had no money. He had left his car in Yate after getting a pounding headache and was unsure about how to get home.
The receptionist offered to call his next of kin who was his mother. The 19 year-old said that his mother had bad health and didn’t have any money either to pay for the taxi.
He asked if the hospital could call him a taxi but they were unable to meet his request. He would have ended up walking almost 10 miles in his shorts and T-shirt, without any idea of how to reach his destination if it wasn't for the strangers who helped him on his journey.
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While driving in Yate on the afternoon of Sunday, May 22, David Bray pulled over with a headache that was like nothing he had ever experienced. He said: “It felt like a brick had hit my head.”
After calling an ambulance he was taken to Southmead hospital at around 3.15pm. The paramedics told him that there was a risk of it being a stroke. After a scan, he was given the all clear and discharged at 9.30pm that evening. Mr Bray said: “At that time, I hadn’t been paid so I had no money whatsoever to get home.
“The receptionist just told me that all they could do was call my next of kin but [my mum’s] really ill and she doesn’t have any money. After saying that multiple times, in the end I said okay, I'll just have to walk back to Yate then.
“My phone was completely dead so I had no way of contacting anyone to even pick me up. I still had this raging headache that they didn’t give any painkillers for.
“I was absolutely knackered because I’d been sat there the whole afternoon and even just the walk to [Horfield] leisure centre tired me out.”
Mr Bray had thought the hospital were able to provide a taxi under such circumstances because NHS staff had previously arranged for him to get a taxi from a walk in centre to a hospital when he had suspected meningitis.
In order to get to Yate he would have needed to walk 10 miles, which would have taken more than three hours. It would have been a challenging walk not only because of his suspected asthma but also because he had no idea how to get there.
Mr Bray said: “It felt like they didn’t care, it was like- you’ve been discharged and it’s not our problem anymore. I was so worried. I had no idea how to get back to Yate, I use my phone everywhere I go in Bristol.”
After passing Horfield Leisure Centre he saw a woman smoking outside her house, he told her what had happened and asked if he could quickly charge his phone so he could ring someone to pick him up.
The woman agreed and then her father came out and Mr Bray explained the situation, still wearing his hospital band. The father asked for the address and called him a taxi.
He said: “The people that helped me, I don’t really know how to thank them. If they hadn’t done that, I literally have no idea how I would have got home.”
Mr Bray has since made a complaint to the North Bristol NHS Trust
A North Bristol NHS Trust spokesperson said: “Unfortunately we are unable to comment on individual circumstances. We invite any patient with a concern to contact us directly should they like to make a complaint or speak to a member of our staff on 0117 414 4569, or at pals@nbt.nhs.uk.”
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