Natural yogurt.

The final waybill.

Friends who read this blog will know that my day job is driving a coach for National Express. You simply do not jump onto the coach, sit down and drive away. Every driver is legally and morally obliged to do a full safety inspection of the coach before he begins to drive away. Health and Safety is the number one concern in our job and we take this responsibility very seriously indeed. You only have one chance to get things right and you are well aware of worst case scenarios. You take all steps to ensure that you, your coach and passengers are safe at all times. Once you are satisfied that your coach is Okay, you drive off on your merry way, ready always to do anything to maintain your health and safety.

I was very saddened to read this story of another coach driver on the National Express network.

Tributes to hero coach driver
Thursday, July 23, 2009, 06:30

THE widow of a coach driver from Hull has said his heroic actions as he fell ill at the wheel were typical of him.

Harry Hutson, 60, was driving a National Express coach on the A63 westbound, near South Cave, on Tuesday, June 30, when he had a heart attack.

Despite being in severe pain, Mr Hutson managed to pull into a lay-by and bring the vehicle to a halt.

The father-of-two, from north Bransholme, was taken to hospital where an initial operation seemed to go well.

But tragically, Mr Hutson then suffered an averse reaction to his blood thinning medication – something which affects only one in 10,000 people – and died the following day.

Sitting in her living room and surrounded by hundreds of bereavement cards, Gail Hutson, from north Bransholme, told the Mail she was proud of her popular husband.

She said: "It didn't surprise me that he put his passengers before himself because that's just him.

"Harry enjoyed his job – he liked being on the open road."

Following Mr Hutson's death, his wife, 52, received a letter from Colin and Hilary Smith from Filey in North Yorkshire, who were passengers on the coach.

They wrote: "We will be eternally grateful for the safe way Harry drove his coach and how he parked it in such a safe place when he was having serious chest pains.

"He was truly a hero."

Mrs Hutson, who works at Asda in Kingswood, said her husband of 29 years was a happy-go-lucky character who loved a practical joke.

Mr Hutson, a Hull FC fan, enjoyed fishing and spending time with his wife, their twins Lesley and Vincent, 34, and their four grandchildren – Dylan, three, Vinny, 10, Kelsea, 13, and Keely, 14.

Mr Hutson, a former long distance lorry driver, was born on Somerset Street, off Hessle Road, west Hull.

Alastair Coxon, head of contracts and procurement at National Express, said the firm were deeply saddened by Mr Hutson's death.

He said: "Despite being taken ill whilst driving Harry showed great skill and professionalism in bringing his coach to a safe stop.

"This heroic action has already brought Harry much deserved praise from some of his customers.

"It is sad that Harry is not around to hear National Express say 'thank you', not just for his actions on that occasion, but for 12 years of professional and safe driving on our network."

... I have never met Harry but I understand why his widow Gail is so very proud of him. Harry, like all coach drivers take their responsibilities very seriously indeed and we will do whatever we can to maintain the safety of ourselves, our coach and the passengers. Harry's thoughts were probably on which was the safest and best way to get out of this situation. Where is the best place and with the minimum risk to stop so that he can recover from this situation?

Harry was a credit to our industry which he has fully demonstrated by his final actions. My thoughts are with his family as they come to terms with his final departure.