Late-stage cancer patient saves ambulance driver’s life

Christian Nayet, 60, has late-stage stomach cancer which has spread to his liver. After two rounds of chemotherapy, he considers his days numbered.

To his ambulance driver, he's a hero.

On Wednesday, ambulance driver Jean-Francois Pina was transporting Nayet to his scheduled "last chance scan" at a hospital in Lille, France, when the driver suffered a heart attack.

Nayet took immediate action.

"I told him, 'Give me the keys, trust me! My life is not in danger, but yours is!'" Nayet told Voix du Nord. "I couldn't find the siren, but I managed to turn the lights on and told him to put his arm out the window to signal to the cars to let us pass."

Nayet also administered a blood anticoagulant to Pina to help stabilize his heart during the drive to a hospital in Lens, the AFP reported.

Pina was immediately admitted to the emergency room.

According to hospital emergency room manager Frederic Allienne, the driver "could have died" without Nayet's help.

Nayet was then taken to the original destination for his tests.

He insists his actions were instinctive, not heroic.

"I made a human gesture, without thinking, not a gesture of courage."

Pina, who recovered from the terrifying ordeal, called Nayet the following day to thank him.

"He wanted to see me again," Nayet said. "I told him, 'The most important thing is that you're okay. As for me, the night (I saved you) I slept like a baby — I knew I had done something good.'"