A NEWTON Abbot bus driver has described the feelings of horror after becoming incapacitated at the wheel of his bus last week.
Neil Denniss suffered a stroke at the wheel of his Country Bus while driving in Newton Abbot.
The 61-year-old, unable to control his arms and legs, careered through the outer fence of Newfoundland Way car park and into a building on the far side.
‘It was like I was there, but that I wasn't there - like I was watching it in a film’ Neil said.
‘It was frightening, I thought “The only way this bus is going to stop is if it hits something”
‘As I was going across the car park, I thought that was it, my days are numbered - I cannot stop this vehicle’ Neil added.
The licence allows its holder to drive a vehicle that can carry nine or more passengers, and its suspension by the DVLA is standard operating procedure after an incident such as the one that befell Neil.
‘I really love the job, and now that has been take away from me’ Neil said.
‘It is very difficult, when you find something you love in life, and then it is taken away just like that’ Neil added.
A coach tour driver for more than 20 years, Neil has travelled all across Europe ferrying passengers to and fro before losing his job in the pandemic.
A stint driving for National Express was followed by a period working in the motor trade before the Newton Abbot local started with Country Bus in September 2024.
‘It has not been that long, I was just really settling in to it and for it to be taken away from me, it hurts, Neil said.
‘I am 62 next month, so I am not that far off retirement, but I live on my own, I have a mortgage, council tax, bills and so on.
‘I have been in driving jobs for years, its not like being in your thirties when you can go and retrain.
‘Who is going to take someone one who is probably only going to be with them for a few years?
‘I really do not know what the way forward is’ Neil added.
There were no passengers aboard at the time of the crash, only Neil and another Country Bus driver.
‘We had just dropped passengers in Sherborne Road and we were going to do a school-run, but we needed to get fuel first, so me and my colleague went to round to get fuel on East Street, Neil said.
‘We came out, I turned left onto the main road and I started to feel a little bit light headed.
‘I could not control my foot, I could not even move the wheel’ Neil added.
Neil and his colleague were both taken to hospital, the former having abdominal and leg pain after the steering wheel smashed into his body.
‘Luckily, I did not actually break anything’ Neil said.
‘I am getting there, I can walk a lot better now, it still hurts, but nowhere near like what it was last week.
‘The staff at the hospital, all the emergency services, everyone was so, so helpful.
‘And Country Bus have been fantastic, Ali has been really good, the job is open to me after a year if I get through the medical tests’ Neil added.
In the wake of his experience, Neil has written a poem.
A job you love is taken away, one month one week one day
People going about there daily lives, From the babies children and men with there wives, As a caring bus driver, you're looking after there lives
They are going to school to work or their GP, These people never knew the real me, A lifetime in customer care, Being on the bus stand being there
A laugh a smile a helping hand, Driving through traffic day after day, Helping these people on there way
Then one terrible february day, My career is taken away, A medical episode at the wheel, My foot on the pedal, I can not feel no control over the steering wheel
The frightening impact of the collision, Emergency services arrive very fast, The shock has hit me hard I know its going to last
Four days in Torbay Hospital, Not knowing what has happened to me, Having x-rays scans and lots of tests, My injuries hurt so much pain never want to go through this again
I want to thank the NHS, The fire service police bus company, All who have been so good to me, My new life is now reality