16106/01Pensioner Bill Poole has been welcomed home to Malmesbury by his neighbours who rescued him when he nearly died from pneumonia.

Mr Poole, 73, collapsed near his home in St Johns Street on April 11 and was discovered by neighbour Rachel Wilson who contacted the emergency services.

Within minutes, paramedics had airlifted the elderly man to Great Western Hospital where he was placed in intensive care.

With a twinkle in his eye, Mr Poole said: "I was lucky the air ambulance got me to hospital so quickly, because if I had been taken by road it could have been too late.

"It was a good job Rachel found me. I can't remember anything that happened. It is just a complete blank.

"It's only when you're bad that you realise who your neighbours are."

Mr Poole also praised another neighbour, Ann Mason, who was called to the scene.

"Ann has been a great neighbour too, and has really cared for me since I got home," said Mr Poole, who is

unmarried and lived in St Johns Street all his life.

In hospital, he had a tracheotomy and has been told to do light walking to help his recovery.

Days before his pneumonia attack, Mrs Mason had tried to persuade Mr Poole, who used to work in a chicken factory, to see a doctor about a chest infection. Now, after spending three weeks in hospital, Mr Poole said his breathing is much better.

Looking dapper in a navy jacket he said: "Breathing-wise I feel a lot better. I have some fluid on my leg but I have been doing some walking and gradually the fluid will disappear.

"The day I fell, I had been to the bowls club near here to buy a cigar. I used to smoke about ten cigars a day but I will now be giving then up."

He said he had been well looked after in hospital and that newspaper stories about his collapse had brought him a lot of attention and cards from people in Malmesbury.

"It was funny because when my neighbours brought me the paper into hospital I could recognise everyone in the photograph but myself. I kept thinking; who is that bloke?"

He laughed: "When I was moved out of intensive care I was moved into another ward. One day another patient told me a helicopter had landed at the hospital causing a bit of excitement. It turned out the helicopter was carrying me."

Mr Poole said Mrs Mason, who he has known for about nine years, has played a key role in his recovery by cooking for him, washing his clothes and calling round each evening.

He said: "Ann has been making my bed, doing my washing and generally checking to see if I am ok. She has become one of my best friends.

"Years ago everybody helped each other, so in return for her doing my washing I would polish her brass and take her dog out."

While Mr Poole was in hospital, Mrs Mason kept a little blackboard at her window giving the community daily updates on his condition.

Mrs Mason, a receptionist at Barley Mow Dental Centre, Malmesbury, thanked the nurses and doctors for looking after Mr Poole.

She said when she had had a series of operations Mr Poole had looked after her. "In this part of Malmesbury it is just a proper community. We all look after each other," she said.

Marcia Shute, 83, a retired needlework teacher, lives across from Mrs Mason and Mr Poole.

She said "We are a very close-knit community down here. So when I had a new knee joint, Bill and Ann Mason used to regularly come by to see if I was ok.

"Ann has been like a nurse to me. She has also been ever so good for Bill, cooking for him and doing his washing. We just all try to look after each other."