A MOTHER’S crusade has changed the way 999 calls to motorbike accidents are handled.

Call operators will now be trained to help prevent motorcyclists suffocating in the crucial minutes after a crash.

Guy Evans, 17, died a year ago tomorrow while riding with three friends in Featherbed Lane between Wantage and Didcot, only hours after collecting his AS-Level results.

He had passed his motorcycle test just two days earlier.

But one year on, a campaign by Guy’s mother, Beth Chesney-Evans, 55, has led to South Central Ambulance Service admitting errors were made in the way the call was handled.

When his friends called 999, the operator did not tell them to attempt first aid or check whether he was breathing.

Instead, she entered the wrong information into the service’s computer system and started asking if there was any chemical spillage from the bike. Meanwhile, Guy was choking to death.

Mrs Chesney-Evans said: “I’ve accepted there would have only been a slim chance of resuscitating Guy, but there was a window of opportunity of three or four minutes.

“I don’t know what might have been, but human error compounded by over-reliance on a flawed computerized system meant my son had no chance.”

The teenager had fallen unconscious and crashed. He was left face-down in a ditch, unable to breathe.

An inquest concluded he had probably suffered from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, causing his heart to stop.

Emergency operators across the South Central region will be trained to ensure callers check whether motorbike crash victims are breathing, even if it means moving them to lift up their helmet visors.

Mrs Chesney-Evans, from Long Wittenham, said: “These changes are very significant, and I hope they will save other peoples’ lives.

“If his death has helped make the system better for other people, then that’s a tribute to him and a comfort for us.

“I’m grateful to the ambulance service that they were willing to listen and learn.”

Changes could now be made to the international computer system, which feeds operators with questions to ask.

The ambulance service is pressing the International Academy of Medical Priority Dispatch to review the medical guidance given to call-handlers by the standard software.

Ambulance service spokesman Alison Brumfitt said: “We’re grateful for anything that makes us more aware of the circumstances of accidents and make changes as a result.”

Helena Houghton, from road safety charity Brake, said: “The guidance needs to be clear for 999 callers about what to do in such a delicate situation.

“This case clearly flags up a situation where clear national guidelines need to be produced.”

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey said: “I was involved very early on in lobbying both the ambulance service and the Home Office, and have been on a St John’s Ambulance first aid course myself. I’m now trying to get first aid training mandatory in all schools.

“Guy’s death was a complete tragedy, but the family can take some comfort that it has not been in vain.”

A CHARITY festival in honour of Guy Evans will take place on Saturday, August 22.

The event at Didcot’s Cornerstone has been masterminded by the teenager’s friends on the Spark in the Dark committee at the Vibe youth centre in Didcot, where Guy helped to organise monthly rock gigs.

It will feature a line-up of bands including Motion in Colour, Mr ShaoDow, and Phantom Theory, plus raffles and silent auctions for valuable motorbike kit.

Organiser Henry Cook, 18, said: “Guy was a really lively, popular person and a terrific mate. We all badly miss him.”

Guy’s mum Beth said: “We miss him so much and we just want to see something good come out of this tragedy.”