Hero black taxi driver refuses to accept money after rushing family across London to be with their dying daughter

Tributes: L-R Olivia, Sebastian, William and Izzy, OIivia's twin sister. (Front L-R) Baby Zach, and parents Chris and Katy Shaw
Isobel Frodsham6 February 2018

A family have praised a hero cabbie who refused to accept payment for a fare when he rushed them across London to be with their dying daughter.

Katy Shaw, 62, and her husband Chris, 65, were in Oxford Street when they received a panicked phone call from their daughter Izzy, 24, who had found her twin sister Olivia unresponsive.

The couple immediately hailed a black cab and directed it back to their home in Herne Hill, south London, while on the phone to Izzy and paramedics.

But when they arrived, they received the heartbreaking news that Olivia had died.

While the cause of death is not clear, her family believe it could be due to an underlying heart condition. Post mortem results are expected this week.

Tragedy: Olivia Shaw's parents fear she died of an undiagnosed heart condition

Mrs Shaw, a teacher, said: “We jumped in a taxi and kept calling home for news, and of course for that whole journey, the longer the resuscitation was being attempted the more we realised it wasn’t good.

“When we arrived back the paramedics were standing waiting for us.”

Mr Shaw, who is retired, added: “Throughout the journey, the taxi driver was very calm about saying “which way do you want me to go?”.

"He was really calm, going as fast as he could without endangering us or others. He was such a lovely guy.”

After the paramedics told the family Olivia had died, the taxi driver sobbed and refused to accept the fare.

Mrs Shaw said: “People always say that black cab drivers are too expensive or they do this or that but we were in such a state and he showed us so much compassion and how kindness can make a difference to other people, especially when they are in their darkest moments.

“I think he should be recognised generally by people for what he did and we thank him for being so generous to us. The paramedics were also fantastic, they were so calm and kind. They did everything they could and the way they told us was so sensitive.”

Her sister Izzy added: “One police officer, who was about my age, was amazing, she really comforted me and the kids. They all had such dignity for Ollie and us, and everyone was so patient and respectful. We called my son Zack’s school and told them what happened and they came and picked him up and took him to a counsellor.”

The family have started a fundraising campaign for medical research into unexplained deaths in honour of Olivia, who graduated from the University of Essex with a psychology degree last year.

Mrs Shaw said: “My family was perfect – twin boys and twin girls. You can’t a more perfect family. It’s just unbelievable. I still think I have twin boys and twin girls.

“We will never get over losing Ollie – she was at the core of our perfect family, and was best friend to her sister, as well as countless other friends. She was a wonderful sister, twin, godmother, auntie, friend and person. We are now learning just how much of a difference she made to countless other people’s lives, but we would also like to recognise the way in which this driver showed us humanity, and was an example of how we all could, or should, do our jobs.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT