Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A mother’s heartfelt thank you
Cardiac arrest victim hails heroic daughter after saving life by CPR
A QUICK-THINKING girl who saved her mum after a cardiac arrest has urged others to learn CPR.
Melissa Doyle learned the life-saving skill at school just months before her mother Clare’s heart stopped as she pressed the snooze button on her alarm at their Lisburn home.
The 38-year-old had stopped breathing but her determined daughter carried out CPR for almost five minutes until police arrived with a defibrillator to shock her back to life.
The 14-year-old Fort Hill Integrated College student was taught the technique by school nurse Eileen Mcconnell using the British Heart Foundation NI’S Call Push Rescue training kit – which is free to secondary schools.
And Clare credits Melissa’s training with saving her life.
She added: “We were told at the hospital that if she hadn’t bought me time and done CPR immediately I wouldn’t be here now.
“I’m so proud and grateful to her.” Describing the events of that morning, Clare said: “On Friday, August 4, I woke up like any other day.
“Melissa had slept beside me and as my alarm went off I hit snooze.
“The next thing I woke up in intensive care.
“I’d had a cardiac arrest.
Melissa heard me making a gasping sound. She thought I was snoring, then realised something was wrong.
“She tried to wake me but couldn’t. She shouted for my husband when she realised I had stopped breathing.
“He called 999 and they wanted to talk him through CPR but he couldn’t do it. Melissa said, ‘I’ve learnt this in school, let me do it.’
“Straightaway they got me off the bed and on to the floor and started doing chest compressions.
“I dread to think what would have happened if she hadn’t been sleeping next to me. It was just meant to be.”
She also praised the school and the British Heart Foundation for giving her daughter the skills to save her.
Figures released by BHF NI yesterday show 85% of people surveyed would be reluctant to perform CPR. Half are afraid of causing more harm than good.
Head of BHF NI Jayne Murray said: “Most think if they had to perform CPR it would be a stranger in the street but most cardiac arrests happen at home and it’s your mum, dad or child.”