Praise for CPR passer-by

A RUNCORN cabbie has praised the actions of a passer-by who gave life-saving CPR to a heart attack patient and is believed to have been an off-duty policeman.

Patricia Rowlands said she was driving down Murdishaw Avenue at around 2am on Thursday, May 4, with a passenger on board when she noticed a car at the side of the road and a man bent over what seemed to be an ‘unmoving body’.

She stopped and asked if he was OK and the Good Samaritan told her the casualty appeared to have had a heart attack.

Writing on Facebook she said he was on the phone to 999 and had been waiting almost 20 minutes for an ambulance.

The mystery lifesaver was already administering cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by the time the call handler began giving instructions.

Mrs Rowlands said she later asked for his profession and found out he was a policeman.

She said she had seen bad things writ- ten about the police and wanted residents to ‘recognise what most officers are like’.

The North West Ambulance Service said it received a call to attend Murdishaw Avenue at 1.22am and took a 50-year-old patient to Warrington Hospital.

Describing the off-duty officer’s lifesaving actions, Mrs Rowlands said: “I actually thought he worked in the medical industry because he was so cool – calm and collected.

“I believe he saved the man’s life until the ambulance arrived, at which point I left the scene along with a fellow taxi driver to find the daughter of the patient.

“Before I left though, I did ask the guy who had stopped to help what his profession was – he said he was an off-duty police officer.

“He could have just driven past like a few others did, but he stopped and because of his training saved a man’s life.

“So hey, are you still going to tell me they (the police) are all bad?”