Dancers tell how they saved life of man who fell (From Worcester News)

Dancers tell how they saved life of man who fell

12:50am Friday 26th October 2012 in Worcester By Sarah Taylor

TWO Worcestershire women have spoken of the moment they saved the life of a man after he collapsed in front of them.

Simonne Heslip, of St John’s, Worcester, and Beryl Kirk, of Cotheridge, near Worcester, knew just what to do when they spotted the man fall during a dance class near Malvern.

Mrs Heslip said: “We were half way through our first tango lesson when we saw a man fall from his chair. We put him in the recovery position and checked his pulse while someone called an ambulance.

“He wasn’t breathing so we performed CPR until the ambulance crew arrived. I had learned first aid in the RAF 30 years ago and I was so pleased that, after all that time, it all came flooding back.”

After the incident the friends decided to go on a St John Ambulance first aid course to make sure they had up to date knowledge and life saving skills.

And, just one month later, Mrs Heslip put them into use again when she helped a woman who had fallen over.

She said: “When we did the course it reinforced we had done everything right. A few weeks after finishing the course I came across an elderly woman who had fallen in the street, banging her head and hurting her shoulder.

“I suspected she had broken her shoulder so I knelt down behind her and let her lean into me to support the elbow, while an ambulance was called. She rang me a month later to thank me, saying the big thing she can remember is that my voice had a very calming influence on her and she felt safe.”

The reminder of the importance of first aid training comes after St John Ambulance launched a new campaign, which shows that as many people die in a situation where first aid may have saved them as they do from cancer. The campaign also encourages people to take a course in the life saving skill.

Mrs Heslip added: “You never know when you might need it. If more people learned first aid it could make a big difference to the number of lives being saved.”

To learn more about the campaign visit sja.org.uk/helpless or text HELP to 80039 for a free pocket guide.