Henry Beal is one of Homeserve’s most recent intake of apprentices. He’s gone through two years of training but, as we know, sometimes Engineers stumble upon a situation or a customer for which there can be no training.
One day, Henry was working on a customer’s bathroom.
Henry said: “It was only the customer and I in the property at the time as his wife was at work. I was just starting the job when I heard a groan and a bit of a thump. I thought the customer had just sat down or something, but then I started to hear a continuous tapping noise.
“I thought I should investigate to make sure the customer was ok and when I walked through the kitchen and into the next room I found the customer collapsed on the floor, unconscious and convulsing, with blood pouring out of his mouth. I immediately made sure he was breathing and called 999 for an ambulance.
“The ambulance turned up and I stayed out of their way so they could do whatever they needed to. The customer was still unconscious and not responding to them 25 minutes after the incident.
“I made sure they had my name and contact details before leaving. I also made sure the customer’s wife would be informed that the water was turned off from the easily accessible stopcock, which she helped her husband find over the phone before the incident. I’m just glad that I was in the house at the time because it’s unlikely anyone would’ve turned up for hours.”