Hero St John’s Wood hairdresser saves neighbour’s life
Carlos Alves with his neighbour less than a week after saving his life. Picture: Carlos Alves - Credit: Archant
A hero St John’s Wood hairdresser saved the life of the dry cleaner next door after finding him unconscious in a pool of blood.
Quick-thinking Carlos Alves, 44, dropped 10ft over a fence to get into the Siciliana business after its manager raised the alarm.
There he found the man, who is diabetic and was “an hour from death”, lying on the floor.
Carlos runs the Alvez of London hairdresser’s salon in Blenheim Terrace.
At about 2pm on Thursday last week, Carlos noticed the manager of the dry cleaner’s in distress as the front door was locked and she couldn’t contact the owner.
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Carlos, whose family have owned the salon since 1990, climbed around the back and then jumped down a steep drop in order to get into Siciliana from behind.
Carlos told the Wood&Vale: “I jumped over the railings, which is about a 10ft drop, then I saw him unconscious on the floor, hidden behind the till.
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“It was a horrific scene. I was able to open the door and then call an ambulance. I was holding his hand and caressing him. The pool of blood was so large that it was flowing back towards him and his clothes.
“The medics said he was probably an hour away from death because he lost so much blood and is a diabetic.”
The accident caused panic in the St John’s Wood neighbourhood, with passers-by even calling the police for fear somebody had been stabbed. Carlos explained the blood came from cuts suffered when the man fell. He has a broken arm, but has made a swift recovery – he is back in his shop less than a week after the incident.
Carlos, who has known the man for over a decade, said “Someone had to jump down and see him, but what was amazing is how the community came together.
“I also felt very grateful – I had saved one of my late father’s friends. My father passed away at the age of 60, so to have rescued my neighbour meant a lot to me.”
