Missing patient found safe and well
A MAJOR search for an elderly man who discharged himself from hospital in the middle of the night ended in relief tonight after he was found safe and well.
Roddy Ashworth
A MAJOR search for an elderly man who discharged himself from hospital in the middle of the night ended in relief tonight after he was found safe and well.
Joseph Preston, from Ascot Mews in Clacton, had undergone surgery at Colchester General Hospital on Thursday but left shortly after midnight this morning, against medical advice.
The 72-year-old man, whose life was "at risk" according to medics, was found at 10.50pm on farmland at Langham.
It followed a huge search of the hospital's surrounding roads and fields, including police and RAF helicopters.
He was taken back to Colchester Hospital suffering from the effects of cold, but otherwise safe and well.
Most Read
- 1 Man stabbed in back and sides in Ipswich attack
- 2 Forbidden Suffolk: 6 places you can't visit in the county
- 3 Omid Djalili cracks Ipswich joke at Queen's Platinum Jubilee show
- 4 Cricket club praises ambulance service after player collapses in the field
- 5 'Incredibly proud': 11-year-old saves classmate choking on chicken nugget
- 6 'We're lucky to get her back' - Drone finds missing Pinky after 17 days
- 7 Alleyway near Ipswich town centre remains sealed off after serious assault
- 8 Ford Transit van destroyed in suspected arson attack
- 9 Travellers move on from Chantry Park in Ipswich
- 10 Peregrine falcon put down after being illegally trapped and shot in Suffolk
A police spokesman thanked the people of Colchester for their help in the search, particularly the Lowland Search and Rescue team.
