https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/15940 ... art-attack
AN AMAZON delivery driver says he was 'forced to work' despite feeling unwell and wanting to go to the hospital, with symptoms that later turned out to be a heart attack.
Neil Martin was delivering packages to Amazon customers in the area of Wigan, near Manchester, on March 16, when he began feeling unwell. At around 2pm, he began experiencing chest pains, feeling dizzy, and having cold sweats.
Worried about his symptoms, the 46-year-old pulled over and contacted his employer, Deva Logistics, a contractor for Amazon.
He informed his manager about his symptoms and asked to leave work so that he could go to the hospital.
Mr Martin told the Liverpool Echo: “I asked if someone could come and get my packages because I wanted to go to the hospital.
“They told me someone could come and take half my route off me but that they couldn't do any more than that."
And so a standby driver met him to take some of the packages that he was supposed to deliver, and he 'had no choice but to carry on with the rest', as he told Liverpool Echo.
Mr Martin said: "I didn't realise how serious it was at the time.
“But it went on right through the afternoon, just getting worse and worse.
“The dizzy spells were so bad I kept having to pull over because I couldn't see anything."
Despite his situation, the worker managed to pull off his shift and returned the van to the Amazon depot in Knowsley at 6:30 pm.
He said: "When I got back to the depot my manager asked me if I was alright to work tomorrow and said he had a smaller route over the water I can go on.
“I said I need to go to the hospital before I start thinking about packages."
So he rushed to Whiston Hospital, where the doctors found his heartbeat racing at 320 beats per minute and told him he had already suffered a heart attack.
Mr Martin had to be kept in the hospital for 10 days in order to be treated and monitored before he was sent home to recuperate.
He said: "The doctors asked me why I had waited so long before coming in. I was disgusted.
“It made me feel like delivering packages was more important than my health.
“I am not blaming them for me having a heart attack, but I feel like I could have died on that road and they didn't care."
A spokesperson for Deva told the Liverpool Echo that the company had understood that Mr Martin was relieved from all his packages and immediately sent home.
The spokesperson said: “We were not aware that Neil had been left with packages.
“Had we been aware we would have immediately sent another driver to relieve him.”
The company also stated that Neil had called a manager "demanding money" to prevent him from speaking to the press.
However, according to Liverpool Echo, the time of the call suggested by Deva came after Neil had already spoken out about his ordeal.
On his side, Mr Martin strongly denied making any such demands.
A spokesperson for Amazon told the Liverpool Echo: “Safety is a top priority and we wish the delivery driver a speedy recovery.
“We have launched an immediate investigation with the delivery service provider who engages the driver.”
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Amazon driver 'told to finish shift' after suffering heart attack behind the wheel
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Amazon driver 'told to finish shift' after suffering heart attack behind the wheel
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"Employers are always seeking more productivity from workers, without considering the human factor, the worker's age, the weather conditions and the intense heat. We need to intervene before it's too late, reducing working hours and the load carried by workers, because it's impossible to sustain the rhythm they're forced to work at for many years."
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"Employers are always seeking more productivity from workers, without considering the human factor, the worker's age, the weather conditions and the intense heat. We need to intervene before it's too late, reducing working hours and the load carried by workers, because it's impossible to sustain the rhythm they're forced to work at for many years."
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