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Original poster

Have you ever saved a life?

86 replies

WhereForArtThouBray · 09/06/2019 11:41

I have managed to save 3 lives, just wondering how common it is?

1st was on my way home from work and I have to cross over a high bridge, there was a young man contemplating jumping off. He was surprisingly calm. I called the police and stayed with him until help arrived. I still think of him and hope he is in a better place mentally.

Second my next door neighbour had a fall, I was knocking and he wouldn't answer, kept shouting that he was fine. Turns out he had been naked on the kitchen floor all night. I had to get the fire service to break in his door. He was on hospital for 5 months!

Third was a lady in the hairdressers being really aggressive and rude. When she left the girls were saying how unlike her it was and how lovely she is usually. I followed her out as she was getting into her car to drive home and asked if she was diabetic. Turns out she was and was hypo, 1.6 which is very low. If she had driven that car she would have likely crashed.

So have any of you saved a life?

OP posts:
HettyStThomas · 09/06/2019 11:42

I donate blood as often as I can. Does that count?

Mominatrix · 09/06/2019 11:44

I was a medic who specialized in critical care so, yes, I have "saved" many lives.

chilledteacher · 09/06/2019 11:45

My baby (2ish at the time) sister and I were waiting with my parents for a bus on a coastal road in the 80's. Unbeknownst to them (whilst they were consulting the timetable) she slipped through the wire fence and started crawling on the rocks which were about 30cm from cliff face. I can remember panicking and not having the words but screaming really loudly which alerted my Dad who grabbed her.

About 8 years ago in Pizza Hut a toddler was choking and the mum was screaming. I put the toddler over my knee and did back slaps.

chilledteacher · 09/06/2019 11:45

And donate blood

Original poster
WhereForArtThouBray · 09/06/2019 11:47

Oh I donate blood too.

OP posts:
SkydivingKittyCat · 09/06/2019 11:51

Several, I'd like to think. Trained in suicide intervention and negotiation but rarely get any follow up beyond the immediate incident

Original poster
WhereForArtThouBray · 09/06/2019 11:53

That must be a very difficult job!

OP posts:
HappyHammy · 09/06/2019 11:54

Yep.have saved many lives working in healthcare and also helped people taken unwell in public and have witnessed accidents where we do what we can.

SunshineSpring · 09/06/2019 11:54

Only through blood donation.

But I'll never forget the woman who said "hhuh, umm errr" behind me as I started crossing the road on a green man. It was enough to stop me before a car came flying round the corner (through a red light). I'd looked, and the road was clear, but she was slightly behind me, and could obviously see further.

HotChocolateLover · 09/06/2019 11:59

Yes. I was walking along the road once when I came along an old lady who had fallen over. I checked and she wasn’t breathing. I started CPR straight away and within about 30 seconds a man came around the corner and I yelled at him
To call an ambulance. The ambulance came within about 5 ish minutes with another woman (who had turned up) and me taking it in turns to do CPR (it’s bloody knackering) The ambulance crew took over and got her breathing again. I won an award for that 🏅

Walkamileinmyshoesbeforeujudge · 09/06/2019 12:04

Saw a young woman crash her car into a tree. Her car started smoking, lots of cars drove past!! I pulled over and got her out and rang emergency services, and her dm. All arrived, nobody spoke to me so I just left.. She was unharmed, more bothered about the alcohol she had in the footwell as she was on the way to a festival!
Gave cpr to my own ds after he stopped breathing as a baby.
Give blood as I have a rare blood group.
Paid ££££ to have my ddog's cancer cut out - I hope that counts as now I am very skint!!

SmokeAndBone · 09/06/2019 12:14

No, never

SystolicSyster · 09/06/2019 12:19

Perhaps, but it was grandmother who was far into her Alzheimer's by then, and ended up living for several years more in an increasingly pitiful state, so I'm not sure if it was such a great thing to have done. :(

In primary school I stopped my friend getting into a stranger's creepy white van. That counts as saving a life in my true crime obsessed mind...

Stopyourhavering64 · 09/06/2019 12:19

Dh...when he had anaphylaxis to antibiotics...very scary

Rainbowknickers · 09/06/2019 12:22

I was at work one day on the shop floor and a bloke came in
He was lovely and polite but something just seemed ‘off’
I almost forced him to talk to me and it turns out he’d just stopped off for something to eat before taking himself off to jump off a bridge
I managed to talk him down and get him the help he needed

He came back in a few days later to tell me I’d saved his life and if it wasn’t for me he would have done it but was getting the help he needed

A lady came in and as I walked past her she burst into tears
Again I talked to her and made her see that it wasn’t that bad-it was just her feeling like shite that was making it worse-I never saw her again and hope she’s ok

A young girl fell down the stairs-she’d had a fit and fell
I managed to keep her awake and deal with the blood that was gushing everywhere (I really don’t do blood)
Mum came in a few weeks later to say she was gonna be fine but had a lovely scar on her head

When in my training they told me ‘to expect everything’ I really didn’t think it would be that literal!

Original poster
WhereForArtThouBray · 09/06/2019 12:30

I have done my first aid training but I always wonder if I would keep my cool an be able to put it into practice.

Love this stories.

I feel sad for you @SystolicSyster, it must be so difficult when someone you know is going through that.

OP posts:
SkydivingKittyCat · 09/06/2019 13:51

I was at work one day on the shop floor and a bloke came in
He was lovely and polite but something just seemed ‘off’
I almost forced him to talk to me and it turns out he’d just stopped off for something to eat before taking himself off to jump off a bridge
I managed to talk him down and get him the help he needed

I had similar when I was a shop assistant as a student. A youngish (early 20s) guy came in, didn't seem right, couldn't put my finger on it. Bought a single cigar, paid for it in 1p and 2p coins and left. This added to my concerns as it just not being right. Pressed the panic button to the office and my boss came out. Sent him after him and he brought him back to the shop. Turned out he'd taken a massive overdose and was off to the beach for his last smoke and for it to take effect. Ambulance phoned, he collapsed on the shop floor a few minutes later. Never heard anything again and often wonder what the outcome was.

RNBrie · 09/06/2019 13:59

I jumped into a river to rescue my brother when he'd fallen out of a canoe and was being swept off downstream. He was wearing a life jacket but was only 3 or 4. My dad and other brother had also fallen out and my dad had one brother but hadn't managed to grab the other.

I also rescued a friend when we were scuba diving and she panicked and couldn't breathe underwater. She says I saved her life but I think I put her at risk in the first place cause I could tell the company we were with were dodgy and I was a vastly more experienced diver than she was. We should never have been under water in the first place!

lucymegan · 09/06/2019 14:16

Not me but my brother was having his car cleaned out 2 weeks ago when he heard a bang. A car had gone straight into a lamppost and then a wall opposite him. He ran to the car and the front of it was complete crushed, the lady was stuck and screaming about her child. Db opened the back door and there was a little girl in her chair with a huge gash to her head. He got her out and kept her and her mum calm until the ambulance came.

Stompythedinosaur · 09/06/2019 14:28

Yes, plenty, but I am a nurse.

I put out someone who set themself on fire, and I've cut people down from hanging a number of times. I also gave lifesaving treatment after a bad motorbike crash outside my house.

TheBestNapIEverHad · 09/06/2019 14:31

I witnessed a stabbing and called an ambulance and waited with the victim, confirmed her, talked to her to try to keep her conscious etc. I don’t know if I saved her life, but I suppose I was first at the scene and was able to take action.

TheBestNapIEverHad · 09/06/2019 14:32

comforted her

BlackHillsofDakota · 09/06/2019 14:39

I tried my best but he died Sad
I was waiting to pick my friend up at the station and was sitting in the car park.
This old man was staggering around and then collapsed. I got out of my car and went over and he had stopped breathing.
Another woman came to help and called an ambulance, it took over 20 minutes to arrive. For all that time we did CPR on him but we later heard that he died.
I hope his family know we did everything we could to save him.

SpaceCadet4000 · 09/06/2019 14:52

When my nephew was 2 SIL gave him a lollypop then let him go and run around with his brother. After about 2 mins playing the lolly went way back in his mouth, with the stick in there too. I noticed he was making gagging noises and gesturing at his throat so sprinted over, lay him down and got it out.

Utterly terrifying, but just shows how important the advice around lollies/boiled sweets and young kids is.

slipperywhensparticus · 09/06/2019 14:53

By not killing them does that count?

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