Lifesavers!

Photo: Anthony Miller

WHAT a team: Jade (right) with her baby boy Max Kelly and cousin Amelia.

Caring cousins rescue dying cyclist
A QUICK-thinking mum turned life-saving angel after coming to the aid of an elderly cyclist who suffered a heart attack while riding his bike.

Jade Whittle, of Burnley Lane, Chadderton, was out with her five-month-old son Max Kelly and cousin Amelia Masters when they saw Bill Bicknell (79) fall off his bike in Chadderton Hall Road.

Suspecting he had been clipped by an overtaking car, the pair ran over to help but found him lying on the floor with no pulse.

Instead of panicking, Jade (22) took control and calmly followed the instructions given to her by a paramedic over the phone.

Her swift actions saved grandad Bill’s life.

Jade, who works at a builder’s merchant, said: “When he fell off his bike, we ran over expecting to just brush him down and help him back on his bike.”

But to the pair’s horror, Mr Bicknell’s skin was blue and his eyes were open and bloodshot.

Amelia (22) couldn’t find a pulse.

Jade added: “When another woman, who had called the paramedics, passed the phone to me, I just followed what they were saying.

“They told me to keep pumping his chest twice every second to get his heart going.

“I was crying throughout it all and was frightened to death as I’ve had no first-aid training — but I had to keep going.”

When an ambulance arrived minutes later, Jade was doing so well paramedics asked her to keep up her first-aid attempts while they set up their equipment. The cousins helped move Mr Bicknell on to a trolley. He was then taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital where he was kept in an induced coma.

Now recovering, Mr Bicknell’s family have visited the mum-of-one and thanked the cousins for saving his life.

Jade added: “Bill’s wife and their daughter came round with chocolates, flowers and a bottle of wine.

“She said I was a friend for life now.

“It still doesn’t seem real but I’m pleased that my actions helped to save him.”

Mr Bicknell’s wife Thelma said: “We’re so proud of what Jade and Amelia did.

“Their actions at the scene kept him going — that’s why he is with us today.”