life saving - a true story

it could happen anytime, anywhere…

in the summer, my family were invited to a pool party to celebrate a 6th birthday.

we arrived on time and offered to help blow up water balloons. we positioned ourselves by the pool and got filling. the food arrived and my three little people were hungry, so we moved over to the food and i sat myself down. while eating, i became aware there were a lot of people in the pool.

i asked myself the question, what would i do if something happened? then something did happen which has changed my life forever. i am sharing my story because i wish to highlight the importance of having first aid training even in everyday scenarios such as this one. 

i heard cries of ‘help!’ ripple through the party so i moved swiftly from my chair across to the pool where a boy was passed out of the pool by a lady (who i have since learnt did not swim and had seen him not sinking and got in to rescue him). i pulled him out with my arm hooked under his and placed the boy in the recovery position and shouted for an ambulance to be called. water and sick came out of his mouth, his tongue was swollen so i moved it to clear his airways. 

time was in slow motion as i ticked off everything i could remember from my first aid training - it was as if time stood still and also everything moved so fast. the boy then started to have what i can only describe as a seizure, sick started foaming at his mouth and nostrils. the crowd had frozen, including my children and i asked for everyone to move out.  his jaw was locked. i told the hostess (who was next to me) we needed medical help and then he then stopped breathing.

i started cpr, one, two, three, four on his chest with not too much force for fear of breaking his ribs. i realised if i was going to get him to breathe, i needed to break his ribs. so i straddled him, i clearly remember putting my wrists together in between his ribs and palms over his ribs and fingers curved around him, with my finger tips touching the floor, i took a deep breath and pushed. he exploded, his eyes popped, (a month later and his blood shot eyes are calming down), water and sick projectiled out his mouth as his whole top half curled up like a snake to expel the water from his lungs. i lent him forward to the side and hugged him. i then composed myself, scooped him up off the pool side floor and walked up the steps, to the crowd. the hostess and the doctor greeted us to take him to hospital. i hugged him again and handed him to his mama. 

then all the emotions of responsibility, fear, panic, relief, came flooding out as i collapsed onto the grass (knowing i needed to embrace nature), hyperventilating while trying to rebalance myself, all my children and our au pair on top. i then went inside for a shower and change of clothes as mine were soiled. all the time i played what had just happened over and over in my head. the next few days were a blur of repetition, waiting to hear updates from the hospital. i’d never heard his voice yet he consumed my every thought. each day news came from the hospital, the first 24 hrs he slept, then slowly each day, he is eating, he is talking, slowly the  anxiety and guilt falling away, he is playing, as it was clear he was going to make it and there was no brain damage. 

i have found my purpose ‘reconnecting humans to nature, waking up to my senses and finding ways to be in a relationship of reciprocity with the natural world. i embarked on training as a forest school facilitator, having experienced the benefits for my mental wellbeing (having suffered multiple miscarriages, running a restaurant and three children under four, not now the youngest is nearly three) having attending k.i.n’s weekly sessions for over two years. my time in the forest is medicine not work. my training included a ‘first aid’ weekend which i never imagined i would need until this this day when i found myself having to administer lifesaving practice to a young child at a party. 

this experience has given me a wake up call to the fragility of life and the possibility that this could happen to anyone at anytime, anywhere. i felt out of my depth but ultimately the training kicked in. all of our facilitators at k.i.n are first aid trained and as a result of this incident, we are hosting ‘pertia training’ to run a paediatric first aid training for k.i.n in november specifically for our wider community. we encourage anyone who is spending time caring for young children in any capacity to learn these vital skills so that if an emergency somewhere that you just happen to be, you too can save a life. saving lives is a matter of skills that can be learned by everyone, everywhere.

you can find out more about the first aid training here.

find out about the other opporunities that k.i.n now offers for adults to learn here.