Off-duty paramedic at a stag party tells how he saved an airline passenger ‘who was trying to kill himself in the toilet’ on an EVA Air flight from Bangkok to Heathrow

An off-duty paramedic at a stag party has told how he helped save an airline passenger who was believed to be trying to commit suicide during a flight from Bangkok to Heathrow.

Gareth Lines, 36, from Portsmouth, intervened when the stricken man was found in a bathroom of the EVA Air plane from Thailand bound for London.

He was alerted when he heard a commotion at the rear of the plane and initially thought someone had collapsed, before quickly realizing the situation was more serious.

The plane had to make a quick landing at Heathrow after an alert was raised about the passenger being discovered in a cabin toilet.

Now Mr Lines has revealed new details about the scare and how he helped, using his training to administer CPR.

He intervened after a traveler fearing suicide was found in an airplane toilet

The BR67 flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow had begun its descent when flight attendants realized someone had occupied one of the bathrooms.

A male passenger was found in serious distress and had sustained injuries, requiring immediate first aid from cabin crew and an onboard doctor.

The person, whose identity remains unknown, was stabilized after landing and rushed to a hospital.

Aircraft tracking site FlightAware said the plane landed at Heathrow at 7.03pm last Friday, 17 minutes ahead of schedule.

Mr Lines believes the incident highlights the importance of people knowing first aid.

He recalled: ‘I just thought, ‘What’s going on?’ It looked like someone had collapsed in the back of the plane, but it turned out to be worse than I thought and his heart had stopped.

“This gentleman had tried to take his own life and the flight crew and I dragged him into the kitchen.”

Mr Lines had been at a stag party before catching the flight home on the EVA Air BR67 aircraft, where the emergency occurred 30 minutes before the scheduled landing.

He said the plane had basic equipment on board, including an automatic defibrillator, as he asked the crew to bring him some oxygen.

He said: ‘Without drugs we wouldn’t be able to do much. The man was in cardiac arrest for 30 minutes and then 15 minutes after the London ambulance crew arrived.

‘They managed to get him to hospital and his heart was beating again.

EVA Air BR67 flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow had begun its descent into the British capital when the man was discovered (stock image)

“It’s usually quite fatal for anyone – if he hadn’t had CPR… It surprised me too – we have full equipment on the way.

‘Within 20 to 30 minutes we consider stopping CPR, but the man on the plane was down for a good 30 to 40 minutes. There’s no way he would have made it if he hadn’t had CPR.

“At the end of the day, that’s what’s going to save someone’s life.”

Mr Lines, who has been in the ambulance service for ten years and has been a paramedic since 2019, says everyone should know CPR.

He added: ‘It’s something that anyone should be able to do – it shouldn’t take a professional to do it.

‘Good CPR is all that is needed to potentially keep someone alive in the event of cardiac arrest – before emergency services arrive.

‘You never know. I certainly didn’t expect it. It was an interesting landing during CPR – definitely a new experience.

‘I was grateful to have the support of the airline staff, who remained calm in the difficult conditions – and also from the pilot for a reasonably smooth landing.’

EVA Air confirmed the incident on the BR67 Bangkok-London flight on March 15. The airline has been contacted for further comment.

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