Myleene Klass hosts Everyday Heroes Awards as fearless Richard
wins for lifesaving bedroom heroics
On 7 September 2016, we celebrated the nation’s life savers and
first aid champions at our annual Everyday Heroes Awards.
A man from East Sussex, who saved his fiancée’s life after
waking at 3am to find her struggling to breathe beside him, was
named Everyday Hero of the Year at our 2016 award ceremony.
In October 2015, Richard Tucker, 47, was woken up by strange
noises as his fiancée – now wife – was in cardiac arrest next to
him. Overcoming the panic and horror of the situation, Richard
sprang into action, rushing through to Bridget’s daughter Anna to
shout to her to call 999 immediately, before performing CPR on the
floor of their bedroom until help arrived. His grateful wife
Bridget went on to make a full recovery and subsequently nominated
her husband for the top St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes
award.
Richard was amongst 11 winners on the night, hosted by presenter
and musician Myleene Klass, and supported by Laerdal Medical -
creator of the world famous Resusci Anne.
Here are our 2016 winners and their stories:
Everyday Hero of Year – Richard
Tucker
In October last year Richard went to bed not knowing that in a
few short hours he would be helping to save his fiancée’s life.
Woken by strange noises at 3am, Richard realised that his fiancée
was struggling to breath in the bed next to him. Extremely
panicked, Richard rushed through to Bridget’s daughter Anna and
shouted to her to call 999 immediately. Richard then placed his
fiancée - now wife - on the floor of their bedroom and conducted
CPR on his own until help arrived.
Guy Evans Young Hero of the Year –
Bradley Knight
Student Bradley, 17, rushed to the scene of a motorcycle
accident to help assist a complete stranger. On hearing a loud
scraping and bang, teenager Bradley saw a man had fallen off his
motorbike. The engine was still running and dangerously leaking
petrol so he immediately turned it off to prevent further danger.
The man had obvious head and leg injuries and a suspected
concussion, so Bradley lay him down, supported his leg and treated
him for shock. Whilst helping the casualty, a heavily pregnant
bystander who witnessed the accident also went in to shock, so
Bradley also reassured her and kept her calm as they both waited
for the emergency services to arrive.
Community Hero – Tracey Garde
In 2012, following the public cardiac arrest of footballer
Fabrice Muamba, Tracey as chair of the Bolton ICD Support Group,
along with the committee, decided to fundraise to provide the local
community with AED’s. Initially targeting local schools and sports
clubs, their first defibrillator was presented to Bolton Rugby Club
in December 2012. Since then, the group has donated 120 AEDs and
regularly visits schools and sports clubs to offer resuscitation
and AED training free of charge. Tracey has appeared on TV
describing how defibrillators can save lives and is now campaigning
for all airlines to carry the vital equipment.
First Aid Champion – Lizzie Jones
Professional rugby player Danny Jones was just 29 when he had a
fatal cardiac arrest on the pitch, leaving his widow Lizzie to
raise the couple’s twins alone. Lizzie launched ‘Danny Jones
Defibrillators’ in a bid to supply machines to grassroots rugby
clubs across the country.As well as the defibrillator drive, Lizzie
has successfully campaigned for the screening of all professional
rugby league players for cardiac problems. As a result, The Rugby
Football League has introduced compulsory medical checks for all
three of its professional and semi-professional leagues.
Workplace Hero – Russell Piper
Russell was the only person present when his fellow worker
Stephen collapsed. He immediately dialed 999 and put his mobile on
speaker so he could answer questions from the operator while
administering CPR in between shouting for help. As a result of the
incident, Stephen suffered brain damage and was unable to walk or
talk for a long time afterwards. Following his slow and painful
recovery, Stephen has now come forward as he is incredibly grateful
for Russell’s quick thinking and hands-on help. Not only did
Russell save Stephen’s life, but he also visited him in hospital,
provided support for his partner in the difficult weeks after the
incident and arranged transport home for him.
Top of the Class – Saint Paul’s Catholic
High School
A team of eight first aid trained members of staff at Saint
Paul’s Catholic High School are in the process of training all
students to be able to save a life. The training covers CPR,
choking and severe bleeds. The school has three defibrillators on
site and a First Aid First Response Procedure where staff can dial
an emergency phone line number ‘500’ should they require a first
aider anywhere in the school building. In addition to this all
pupils with medical needs have a medical profile uploaded onto
their personal page on the school system. Pupils with medical needs
such as diabetes, epilepsy and allergies carry a ‘what to do in an
emergency’ card should a medical emergency arise in the
classroom.
Organisation of the Year for First Aid
Excellence - Transport for Greater Manchester
Every year approximately 270 million journeys are made by public
transport across Greater Manchester. Providing a high-quality
service is essential and the safety of passengers is absolutely
vital. To ensure this is the case TfGM has invested in first aid
training for 73% of frontline staff. TfGM’s investment in first aid
far exceeds its legal requirement, but the benefits to both
employees and customers alike means its commitment to this type of
training remains stronger than ever, with a target of 100% being
set for the coming year.
Hero Parent – Victoria Dawson
In Nov 2015, a few weeks after bringing premature baby Eddie
back from hospital, Mum Victoria was breastfeeding when the infant
started choking and became limp. It quickly became apparent to the
young Mum that her son had actually stopped breathing. Victoria
managed to use the CPR skills she’d learnt through her nurses’
training to save her son by giving rescue breaths and chest
compressions. By the time the ambulance had arrived, baby Eddie was
breathing again.
Volunteer of the Year - Luke Tester
Since joining St John Ambulance, Luke has taken on a number of
clinical roles as a Cycle Responder, Community First Responder and
Emergency Medical Technician and covers events far and wide (five
regions and counting). He has been Unit Training Lead and then Unit
Manager & First Aid Society President of Exeter University Unit
and was instrumental in overhauling the unit training programme,
setting a new standard for all student volunteering units in the
region. As well as being a medical student he has lead the unit for
the past year through great organisation and structural changes and
has personally supported the whole unit to achieve excellence in
fundraising, events first aid and training.
Over the last two years, Luke has achieved so much personally
and through his leadership of Exeter University Unit. He has pushed
the boundaries of what student volunteers can achieve while
studying. As a leader Luke's energy and enthusiasm is contagious.
He has lead Exeter University Unit to a successful year. Starting
with Save a Life September and finishing with the Donate for Defibs
campaign, the unit has volunteered more, fundraised more and
trained more students and staff in first aid than ever before.
What makes Luke very special is his ability not only to shine
through his own personal achievements but to credit the
achievements of the volunteers around him and inspire them to go
further and achieve more.
Fundraiser of the Year - Kevin Lamb
Kevin, who works at Cavendish Nuclear, this year decided to
attempt his first ever marathon to raise funds for St John
Ambulance. His 16 week training programme involved more than 400
miles of runs up and down the West Coast Cycle path and the
Ennerdale Valley in all weathers. But his hard work paid off as he
completed this year’s London Marathon in an impressive 4hrs 39mins.
In total, he raised an incredible £1,700 for the charity.
Find out more about our
Everyday Heroes Awards 2016