A Nantwich soprano is singing the praises of first aid experts – after she saved the life of a motorcyclist in a road smash.
Jess Thayer used her training from St John Ambulance in a real emergency when she came across the accident just days after she completed her course.
And she believes it was the training that gave her the confidence to intervene.
The 24-year-old, Vice President of Music for the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich, said: “After an incident during our Freshers’ Week in September we decided it was important we were all first trained.
“On New Year’s Day I was driving to my parents’ house in Cheshire with my boyfriend, my sister and her husband when came across a motorbike accident.
“It looked like no other vehicle was involved and the guy on the floor was motionless.
“We were the first ones on the scene so I ran over to see what condition he was in and if I could help.
“I spoke to him, told him my name and then thankfully he started to open his eyes and speak.
“We called an ambulance and then had to keep him as still as possible and awake.
“I checked him over and it seemed he’d broken his collarbone. I kept him chatting to see how his memory was and to keep him conscious.
“Other people diverted the traffic and I stayed with him until the ambulance got there and took over.
“I called his dad and he got there just before the ambulance left.”
Jess admits she was terrified when she first saw the injured man.
But she believes the St John Ambulance first aid training gave her the skills and confidence she needed.
“The training was great,” she added.
“The trainer was so friendly, professional and informative.
“He made me feel very confident about the things we’d learnt and it all felt very relevant for what we might need. Now I want to learn more!”
Profits from the charity’s workplace training courses are used to teach first aid skills in local communities and schools.
For information about St John Ambulance first aid training, call 0844 770 4800 or visit www.sja.org.uk
140,000 people could have potentially avoided death if they had first aid treatment from a trained first aider. It is one of the most useful skill to learn which benefit not only an individual but whole society.
First Aid training is so important and if more people on the roads were first aid trained everyone would be much safer. Please sign and share the petition to make first aid training an integral part of the driving test (as it is in much of Europe) https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/124040
Your support with this is greatly appreciated.
St johns ambulance do a fantastic job my husband is running the London marathon to raise money for St Johns Ambulance so they can keep up their good work ……sponsor him at http://www.justgiving.com/jameshope3/