Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kind-hearted paramedic pays Broughty Ferry restaurant bill for collapsed patient

Laura Small and her mum Irene, who is recovering well after the scare.
Laura Small and her mum Irene, who is recovering well after the scare.

A kind-hearted paramedic who paid for the meal of a Dundee woman after she collapsed in a restaurant has been hailed a hero.

Laura Small and her mum Irene Knight were enjoying their regular Wednesday lunch date at local eatery Papa Jacques when Irene took unwell.

Soon after, paramedics arrived to give the 82-year-old emergency attention, before rushing her to Ninewells Hospital for further treatment.

With Laura accompanying her mum in the ambulance she only realised hours later they had not settled the bill due to the emergency.

However, she was soon left dumbfounded when staff at the Broughty Ferry restaurant informed her that one of the paramedics insisted on paying for the couple’s meals.

Kind gesture

“I just couldn’t believe it when I was told,” said Laura.

“We go out for lunch every week and when we got there mum complained of feeling unwell.

I was dumfounded when they said a paramedic had insisted on settling our bill, saying ‘everyone is struggling just now’.”

Laura Small

“When she collapsed, the staff called an ambulance straight away and paramedics arrived a short time later to assist my mum.

“Accompanying her to hospital, it was only later on after my mum was discharged that I realised we’d not paid the restaurant.

“So I got straight on the phone, only to be told about the lovely gesture.

“I was dumfounded when they said a paramedic had insisted on settling our bill, saying ‘everyone is struggling just now’.

Papa Jacques in Broughty Ferry.
The incident unfolded at Papa Jacques in Broughty Ferry.

“And he did so despite the owner telling him he didn’t have to.”

Appeal to find kind-hearted paramedic

With only a first name of Kieran to go by, Laura then set out to find the big-hearted paramedic so she could thank him personally.

“I only had his first name but I knew I had to try to find him,” Laura explained.

“I put out an appeal on Facebook and it was a friend who works for the ambulance service who eventfully put me in touch with Kieran Hughes.”

Kieran is a member of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s special operations response team (SORT) based in Dundee.

And it was Kieran who got the original call to attend the emergency.

“He said he was only doing his job and that he was glad to have helped in such a difficult time,” added Laura.

“He didn’t even want any money.

 Laura Small and her mum Irene
Irene Knight collapsed in the restaurant.

“Kieran just asked me to drop in a box of biscuits to the Dundee ambulance service.

“He also joked that his colleagues had been asking about it after word got out about him digging deep to pay the bill.

“It was the least I could do for such an amazing person, who along with his colleague, Ryan Paeth, went way over and beyond just doing their jobs.”

And the paramedic pair will soon be dining out themselves, as recognition of the kind act.

‘Above and beyond just doing his job’

“I’ve since been contacted by Mike Mackay, owner of Papa Jacques, who was equally amazed by Kieran’s generosity, ” said Laura.

“Mike’s kindly given me a £30 gift voucher for Kieran and Ryan to come and enjoy a free lunch.

“It just shows you that despite all the bad things going on, there is still some good.

“It’s such a lovely gesture that me and mum will always remember.”