A YOUNG woman from Lydford waiting for a train at a crowded station last weekend was the only person brave enough to offer a dying man emergency resuscitation.
Hayley Searle, 17, who lives and works at the Lydford House riding stables, was on her way to visit friends for the weekend and was waiting at Taunton station when the 65-year-old man collapsed.
'I was sitting in the café when someone came in and said a man had collapsed. No one was qualified in first aid, but because of my work in the stables with disabled people it was up to me,' she said.
Hayley carried on with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage for three or four minutes until paramedics arrived and took over. But the man died on the way to hospital.
It was the first time she had used the techniques on anything other than a dummy.
'It was hard work, different from training. It was quite scary and I was in a bit of a state later,' she said.
Hayley said she was quite traumatised after the event and returned home, missing her weekend away, but she was looking forward to going again some day.
West Country Ambulance Service area training officer Nigel Roberts, who is the co-ordinator of the South West Emergency Life Support Scheme (SWELLS), said: 'We encourage members of the public to follow some form of training because of the value it has if they find themselves in a similar situation — it's been shown early intervention increases the chance of survival.
'I would appeal to people to come along to the courses we run.'
SWELLS' hotline is 01392 261506 or contact St John Ambulance.
l See story and picture, page 9.