Twist of fate...Ambulance driver rushed to hospital, dies

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

For 20 years, Melvyn Graham led heart-stopping moments rushing people to hospitals in desperate bids to save their lives.

But   in a terrible twist two Sunday mornings ago, the ambulance driver had   to be rushed to his workplace – the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).

Graham, 56, had just pulled up at a petrol station when he apparently fell ill.

A policeman saw him slumped around the steering wheel of the ambulance and immediately sprung into action.

Graham   was placed on the stretcher of the ambulance he knew so well and rushed   to the North Street-based hospital, but despite the frenetic efforts of   medical doctors, and Graham’s colleagues and friends, he never made it.

It's suspected that Graham had a heart attack.
   
The spectre of gloom still hovered over the KPH and the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) when The Gleaner visited the facilities.

Ambulance   attendant, Clifton ‘Bungo’ Allen, said he collapsed and had to be held   by colleagues when he received the news of Graham’s death.

"I couldn’t believe when I heard, he was my best friend," said Allen. "I don’t know how I am going to manage without him."

Dr Hugh Wong, who is in charge of the Accident and Emergency Department of the KPH had high praises for Graham.

"I came here and saw Mr Graham working, he was a good worker, I am surprised that he passed off so suddenly," said Wong.

Karen Fletcher, a nurse at KPH who has had a long association with Graham, described him as most reliable.

"He was always there for everyone and was very supportive," asserted Fletcher.  

"If you had a loss in your family he always went the extra mile for his colleagues," she said.

So   conscientious was Graham that he would look out for persons whenever   there was a flare up of violence in the area, Fletcher said.

Graham’s   supervisor in the KPH/VJH Transport Department, Peter Robinson,   described him as a very impatient person, but an individual who   harboured no grudge – a sentiment endorsed by retired ambulance   attendant Donald Barrett.

"If you and Graham had a difference he would not take it any further and it would end there," said Robinson.

"I could always ask Graham to do anything and was assured that it would be carried out."