Two staff members of a Betfred betting shop are being credited with saving the life of a pensioner who fell into a diabetic coma.

Michael Base, a 72-year-old regular customer at a Betfred shop in Diss, Norfolk, has hailed shop staffers Jamie Scales and Jack Bell as the reason he’s still alive. “I don’t think Jamie and Jack saved my life – I know they did.”

Base, a retired chicken factory worker who suffers from diabetes, spent four days on the floor of his home after falling into a coma and likely would have died were it not for Scales and Bell noticing that Base hadn’t been in to make his twice-daily £1 racing wagers.

According to the official Betfred blog, Scales and Bell checked betting slips filed by other staffers in the hope of recognizing Base’s distinctive hand-writing. Having no luck, they began asking local residents if they’d seen Base in recent days, and Base’s neighbor Glen Bingley directed them to Base’s house.