A whisker away from tragedy

FRIENDS reunited: Charlie with his rescuers (from left) Kirk Richards, Derek Ridley and Tony Cuschlra

CHARLIE, Oldham’s luckiest cat, was fe-line just purr-fect after being reunited with the firefighters who saved his life.

The 11-year-old moggie faced losing all of his nine lives when he was overcome with smoke from a kitchen fire at a house in Oban Avenue, Derker.

But caring crew members from Oldham Fire Station rescued the unconscious kitty and brought it round with the help of an oxygen mask and a 40-minute tummy rub.

Firefighter Kirk Richards (27), who has been at the station for six months, said: “Someone said there was a cat upstairs so I found it in the last room I checked, which was the front bedroom.

“The room was full of smoke and Charlie had keeled over under the window sill.

“I thought he was taking his last breaths because he was shaking all over so I brought him outside.”

Firefighter Derek Ridley (45), from Delph, who has been at the station for eight years, used the oxygen supply given to humans to revive soot-covered Charlie.

He removed the face mask from the oxygen equipment, delivered oxygen by passing the tube over the cat’s mouth and massaged Charlie’s stomach until it regained consciousness.

He said: “It was a natural thing to do.

“We’re not vets but we just had to get on with it.

“I’m more of a dog person but every life is sacred in the fire service and we just do our best.”

A 57-year-old woman had already managed to escape the house when firefighters arrived.

She was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.