Dad fights for life after tumbling 100ft down non-moving escalator in Doncaster

Neil Anderson, 52, had been for a meal with a friend when he stepped onto an escalator at Doncaster Interchange. But he took a tumble when he lost his footing as the escalator was broken and did not move in line with his steps.

Neil, a B&Q store worker, had two cardiac arrests and was pronounced dead for eight minutes at the scene before being blue-lighted to nearby Doncaster Royal Infirmary. He's been in a coma since the accident happened on October 7 and is in a critical condition, his heartbroken family said.

Nephew Grant Menzies, 32, claims there were no barriers warning people the escalator was closed.

Grant said: "We think he took his first step onto it and then realised it wasn't moving because it's quite thin. It was broken, but there weren't any barriers saying this, so then he just fell down. People have said he has done a forward roll from the top to the bottom, while screaming.

"One witness who tried to help him and rang the ambulance has said she's been having nightmares from seeing the fall and hearing him scream. He would have never walked down the steps if there was a barrier there."

Grant says security guards at Doncaster Interchange didn't help Neil until paramedics arrived. He claims they even laid a white sheet over his body and told witnesses to not help him.

Grant said: "He's hit the bottom and the security guards didn't help him - he was choking on blood and they didn't give him CPR. Security were pushing everyone away while he was choking and going through cardiac arrest.

"He's banged all of his body which we knew he was going to do because he fell. They watched him choke which is disgusting, they waited until he took his last breath and then put a sheet over him. He was pronounced dead for eight minutes and then the paramedics arrived and they brought him back but he had another cardiac arrest. He was starved of oxygen and they watched over him.

"I want answers - if I saw someone choking, then my natural instinct is to go and help that woman. I could have been setting up a funeral this week and then my uncle who I'm so close to, would have been dead at 52 years old."

Neil's family are now raising money to support him, as doctors don't know the extent of his injuries and said the father-of-two might not be able to return back to work.

Grant said: "He currently can't move his arms or hands. He's been in a coma for a week but when he had a MRI scan he was fidgeting. They don't even know if he's paralysed or not and if he is, then he's going to be absolutely gutted.

"He would probably rather die than be paralysed. Now he's not going to be able to work so he won't be able to pay for things like his rent, which he never misses."

Doncaster Interchange declined to comment on the incident.