A DAUGHTER put ‘vital’ first aid training into action to save her dad’s life after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Nursery worker Lucy was working at her family’s nursery in Burton Green last November when she got news her dad had been found slumped in his chair at home.
Luckily dad Duncan only lived across the road and 35-year-old Lucy from Kenilworth rushed over to help.
She was advised to start CPR while waiting for the ambulance to arrive and used her first aid training to start compressions and rescue breaths.
Emergency services arrived after nine minutes, and Lucy, along with brother Martin and sister-in-law Michelle, continued to perform CPR while the paramedics set up their equipment.
Duncan was taken to University Hospital in Coventry where he was sedated for five days and underwent a quadruple heart bypass.
Now he is recovering at home but says he would not be here if his family had not stepped in.
He said: “I am so proud of the three of them. There is no shadow of doubt in my mind that the first aid training they had saved my life that day. I could not have been in better hands.”
Now the family are calling on people to sign up for first aid training so in an emergency they know what to do.
Lucy said: “I have always done first aid training as part of my work, but I never thought I would need to use those skills so close to home. Looking back on it now, I am just thankful that we were able to be the difference that day and that Dad is still with us and recovering well.
“I would urge anyone who doesn’t know first aid to get along to a course and get some basic lifesaving skills, because you really never know when or where you might need to put those skills to the test.”
St John Ambulance is holding ‘buy one get one free’ first aid training in Stoneleigh during August.
For every place booked a second person can attend for free.
Call 0121 237 3879 or email [email protected] to find out more.
