EmergenCisse service

Toon star's harrowing past as ambulance driver

AT THE RESCUE ... Papiss Cisse is used to being a hero

HE used to help save lives as an ambulance driver in his native Senegal.

But now Newcastle need Papiss Cisse to help save their season.

The striker runs out at the Estadio da Luz tomorrow night with Toon’s entire campaign in the balance.

Victory against Benfica in their Europa League quarter-final will leave Alan Pardew’s boys dreaming of a first trophy — 2006 Intertoto Cup success aside — since lifting the Fairs Cup in 1969.

But it could also provide a much-needed lift to their hopes of staving off relegation from the Premier League.

Newcastle are just three points clear of the drop zone after Saturday’s 4-0 thumping at the hands of champions Manchester City.

And the sirens are sounding on Tyneside.

But Cisse is no stranger to that because he worked for the emergency services at the age of 15.

He now has his own charity and has raised enough cash to buy a new ambulance, X-ray machine and medical equipment for a hospital back home.

So before his flight to Lisbon, SunSport surprised Cisse with a familiar vehicle — courtesy of the North East Ambulance Service Foundation Trust.

And the £10million hitman admits memories of his old job came flooding back as he got behind the steering wheel.

He recalled: “Where I grew up in Sedhiou the hospital didn’t really have anything.

“So I would take people from my home town to another town, Dakar, where there was a better hospital.

“You would have to take people for three or four hours in the ambulance.

“And I did unfortunately witness a lot of deaths while on the road because they couldn’t last the entire journey.

“There were a lot of cases of women who had miscarriages or women who would unfortunately die on the way to hospital.

“That is something which hurts a lot when I think back to it.

“If I have a personal objective in life it is really to help the hospital in the town where I was from.

“I want them to have more resources so they can deal with people on site.”

Cisse, 27, runs the Friends of Sedhiou from his home in the North East where he has more than settled — even dating Miss Newcastle 2012, Rachelle Graham.

It has actually now been nearly 15 months since he arrived from Freiburg and went on to plunder 13 goals in just 14 games to help Toon to a stunning fifth-place finish.

And although he has found the going tougher this term, his 20-yard wonder volley against Southampton and successive late winners against Stoke City and Anzhi Makhachkala reminded fans of his potential to terrorise defences.

Cisse is loving life in the North East. He admitted: “I feel at home in Newcastle. I’ve been welcomed ever since I came here.

“The supporters are special and extraordinary people.

“Sometimes you will meet them on the street and it’s nice to share a few words with them — it doesn’t cost me anything to do that and it makes them extremely happy.

“My first six months here were extraordinary. Everything I touched turned to gold.

“Obviously I was hoping it was going to be the same as the first six months this season.

“But when I first arrived defences didn’t know what to expect — I was something a little bit new.

“Now defences have worked me out a bit and they’ve kept me quieter but I’ve been working hard to get back to my form of last season.”

Cisse is of course now the No 1 hitman on Tyneside since Demba Ba made the £7m move to Chelsea in January.

The fact that the two Senegal front men never really hit it off together on the pitch at St James’ Park was a frustration for Magpies fans.

Both bagged goals on Cisse’s debut against Aston Villa in February 2012.

But that would be Ba’s last goal of the campaign — despite an incredible scoring run earlier in that season when he netted 15 goals in as many league games not long after his move on a free from West Ham.

The duo appeared on the same Toon scoresheet only once more before Ba, 27, sealed his switch to Stamford Bridge.

Last month they were reunited for Senegal’s 1-1 World Cup qualifier draw with Angola. Cisse in fact came on for Ba — who on Monday scored a screamer for his new club to knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup.

And he insists it was great catching up with his old Toon pal — denying there was ever a rift.

Cisse — whose middle name is Demba — said: “There is more expectation on my shoulders now Ba has left because the team expect only me to score.

“We were team-mates and we do get on well on and off the pitch.

“He’s perhaps not someone that I go out and eat with every night but we are good friends. When we met in Senegal he asked me how things are going at Newcastle and I told him we are getting better as a team.

“Likewise, I asked him how things are going at Chelsea.

“He said things are going well and he is trying to make an effort to do even better.”

The good news for Toon supporters is that unlike his fellow countryman, Cisse has no intention of quitting the club any time soon.

And with Newcastle riding high in Europe, he refuses to look beyond St James’ Park when asked about his future plans.

Cisse added: “I’ve signed a contract for 4½ years and I am going to be playing out my contract — that’s what I want to be here for. I’m really happy to be playing in Europe.

“In terms of winning trophies, we are in the Europa League and we have every chance of winning that.

“We are not saying we are going to but we are going to go out there and go as far as we possibly can in it.

“It’s not going to be easy. We are expecting a tough match against Benfica who are a very good team.

“But we are not going to go there and make it easy for them.

“We are going cause them as many problems as we can and try and get the win.”