Heroic trio saves life of girl, 15

HEROES: (from left) Joanne Kelly, Sarah Byatt and Mel Cunningham

THREE staff saved the life of a pupil who collapsed at North Chadderton School.

Quick-thinking pastoral assistants Joanne Kelly, Sarah Byatt and Mel Cunningham performed CPR on the 15-year-old, who suffered a cardiac arrest.

They worked on her for up to 20 minutes until a paramedic arrived, and continued while he assessed her. The Year 11 pupil was resuscitated with a defibrillator and taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital before being transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital.

The girl, who it was discovered has an irregular heartbeat condition, is hoping to return to school this week.

Joanne said: “It’s like a miracle. I went to visit her and I can’t believe she just looks like the girl she was before the attack.”

Mel added: “I just can’t believe what’s happened. Nothing has sunk in.”

The drama unfolded at the start of February when the girl - unnamed at her family’s request - was working on a computer.

The staff trio had first-aid training and Joanne explained: “I was called to a classroom to see a girl who had fainted. But when I got there it was clear she hadn’t fainted; she wasn’t breathing, and she had no pulse. I just started screaming for people to get help and sent somebody to get Sarah and Mel.”

They made the call to perform CPR, which cannot be done if a person is breathing, and Mel added: “What we thought was a faining fit became life-threatening. Making that decision to go to CPR was the scariest bit. After that we just clicked.

“It helped that we work closely together. We only had to look at each other to react to the situation. We were definitely a team.”

Head teacher Joy Clark has received a letter of commendation from the paramedic who attended which says: “Your staff represented your establishment with a level of professionalism that I have not witnessed in a career extending a decade. It is always an emotive event even for battle-hardened paramedics. Your staff remained focussed throughout the incident and this is both a credit to themselves and your establishment.”

Ms Clark also praised the trio and said: “This was a very serious incident. Basically the girl had gone and we got her back. The staff have gone way above what their duties are as first-aiders. I am very proud of their calm response.”