Do You Know Simon and Carol, the Mystery Yorkshire Coast CPR Lifesavers?

As Yorkshire Ambulance service run their annual restart a heart campaign today, one woman who survived a heart attack on the Yorkshire Coast is looking for help finding the passer-by who gave her life saving CPR.

Mum-of-seven Donna Bates feared the worst when she fell ill during a cliff top walk at a secluded Yorkshire Coast beauty spot.

Donna told Paddy @ Breakfast what happened:

Donna was staying at her caravan at Haven Thornwick Bay Holiday Park, near Bridlington in June, the thirty-nine-year-old had been on an eight-mile walk along Flamborough cliff top with two of her children when she felt short of breath and a tightness in her chest.

Donna says,

“I knew it was serious and yet I felt a strange sense of calm. I really didn’t think I would still be alive by the time help arrived as there was no-one about so I said goodbye to the children I had with me and asked them to tell my other children how much I loved them all,”

Luckily a couple walked around the headland and stopped to ask if Donna was okay.

The woman called 999 and seconds later Donna collapsed in cardiac arrest. That is when the man - who was a first-aider - recognised that he needed to start CPR. Their identity is still a mystery and Donna would love to track them down to say thank-you.

Donna adds:

“I feel very lucky, the right people were in the right place at the right time. To think I was in a remote location with no-one around and then out of nowhere a first aider appeared who was able to start CPR and call 999. I still haven’t managed to track them down, all I know is that they were called Simon and Carol and they were heading to Bempton; I’d love to meet them one day to say thank-you.

“They were followed by an incredible team of professionals who saved my life. Without all their efforts I wouldn’t be here and my seven children would have lost their mum, it’s as simple as that.

“I would urge anyone who doesn’t know CPR to learn, you just never know when you might need to use it,”

Within minutes a six-strong coastguard team were on scene, followed by paramedic Steve Johnson, an ambulance crew and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance who carried out advanced treatment. She was airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in an induced coma. She regained consciousness a little after 24 hours and was discharged three days later.

Steve, who is based at Bridlington Ambulance Station, said:

“This incident demonstrates the importance of CPR being started as soon as possible. Having the opportunity to be involved in teamwork with the coastguard, an ambulance crew and air ambulance was an honour… professional and caring from the start. There is no greater feeling than being part of a team and saving someone’s life, knowing that Donna gets to hold her children again.”

Donna was reunited with her life-savers from Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and HM Coastguard when they got together at Bridlington Ambulance Station in August, just two months after the incident, to talk through what had happened that day in June 2022.

Fran Wilkins, Senior Coastal Operations Officer with HM Coastguard, explained that incident was the first time the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire team had deployed their defibrillator since the kit was introduced on all coastguard rescue vehicles just three weeks earlier.

Fran said:

“It helped to give our staff on the ground the confidence that they were able to give the best care to Donna, and although the defibrillator didn’t need to shock her, it was able to guide what care they were giving so it was a really useful addition to the whole scenario. We don’t often get to hear about the outcome so it was great to be given the opportunity to meet Donna and hear how well she is doing.”

Sam Berridge, Paramedic with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said:

“CPR is vital. People can be quite scared to do CPR but essentially if someone stops breathing and their heart stops beating, without CPR there is no chance of recovery. The fact two people were walking past who were trained and willing was brilliant because it would have been a very different outcome if they hadn’t been there.”

136 Schools across Yorkshire will be taking part in the annual restart a heart campaign today.

Jason Carlyon helps organise the event, he says the pupils will  be getting hands on CPR training from Yorkshire Ambulance Service staff and volunteers.

This year’s activity means that Yorkshire Ambulance Service staff and volunteers will smash the milestone of more than 200,000 people being taught CPR since the Restart a Heart campaign was launched in 2014. During this time bystander CPR rates in Yorkshire have increased from 39.9% in 2014 to 74.9% in 2021.

Jason says it's had a real impact over the last 8 years.

There are 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year, but survival rates are stubbornly low at less than 10%. When a child or adult has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby.

Jason says it's an easy skill to learn.

This year's campaign sees the introduction of an immersive 360 CPR training video which can be viewed on a range of devices, including phones and virtual reality headsets, and sets out the scenario of a student coming across a stranger in cardiac arrest. It takes you through what to do and how to give the patient the best chance of survival by starting CPR. The scenario allows you to interact with the virtual environment to get a 360-degree view, and see what is above, below, and all around you.

Jason says it's a new way of helping people gain CPR skills.

The immersive training can be found here https://www.nwyhelearning.nhs.uk/elearning/yorksandhumber/yas/yasrestartaheartcprsimulation/index.html

More training resources are available at https://restartaheart.yas.nhs.uk/get-involved/cpr-training-resources/