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Original poster

Have you ever saved a human life?

160 replies

NewLifePending · 19/12/2021 22:31

I did on Friday. Two in fact.

I’m still a little traumatised by the events but after debriefs, writing a long reflection and my first counselling session tomorrow, I’m starting to see the enormity of what I did in a more positive light.

Who else has saved a life and how did you feel about it at the time and then later on?

OP posts:
JellyfishandShells · 19/12/2021 22:58

Yes - in my late 20s, heard a crash from the flat below, went to check out older neighbour because we got on well and mutually held keys. Did CPR ( had been a lifeguard at one point and it all came flooding back ) until ambulance arrived. Lucky timing that I was home - she died of a second heart attack two years later.

Mischance · 19/12/2021 22:59
  1. Saved my 24 hour old DD from choking on her own vomit - she was blue when I got to her and I turned her upside down and slapped her on the back - then my doctor husband appeared and I happily left the rest to him.
  2. A colleague collapsed with an anaphylactic reaction - I was the only other person there and managed to get help speedily enough for her to be saved.
Lollyfalalalalalalalalaaahhhhh · 19/12/2021 22:59

Yes Grin I don't know how many (ambulance service) but I think of maybe 3 of those cases often and hope I bump into them one day.
Name changed to protect the involved but jenny and Ian in particular- I will always remember the 45 minutes I spent with Ian and was blown away by just how much he loved her, and how many similarities they had to me and my partner.

TwistedOlivers · 19/12/2021 23:00

@PermanentTemporary

No. I'm pretty sure I've caused two deaths and been a significant factor in another though.
How is that affecting you? I can't get my head around that if I'm being honest... must be difficult for you Flowers
480Widdio · 19/12/2021 23:00

Yes as a Nurse,numerous times over many years.

Only once away from work,I stopped somebody from jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Neolara · 19/12/2021 23:01

Yes, my best friend's life. She is a diabetic and her blood sugar's had gone haywire due to vomiting. She rang me sounding dreadful so I went round and ended up taking her to hospital. It was much more serious than I'd realised and she was whisked off into the scary part of A & E as soon as we arrived. She spent a week in hospital and it was all rather frightening. If I hadn't gone round, she almost certainly wouldn't have survived.

She has also saved my life, so we're quits.

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 19/12/2021 23:03

In a work capacity a fair few times but the one that sticks with me is when my colleague started choking on a toffee penny in a team meeting. He genuinely couldn't breathe and was going blue but after a few back slaps it shot out on the floor and he could breathe again. Some of the people in the meeting never even realised what the drama was! He was eternally grateful.

NMC2022 · 19/12/2021 23:04

Lots through work and had letters for survival of cardiac arrests
One outside of work, I did CPR and he had a pulse shortly after the paramedics arrived

LadyCatStark · 19/12/2021 23:04

No but DH saved a child from drowning in a pond. I was shit and panicking trying to get the bloody life ring off it’s stand and DH managed to lie down on a jetty and fish the child out.

doglikescheeseontoast · 19/12/2021 23:05

I have a friend who, while I wouldn't be so melodramatic as to say she saved my life, certainly prevented me from dying one day. We were cold water swimming and I got a little TOO cold. My body started to shut down and she got me to safety.

liveforsummer · 19/12/2021 23:05

Dd choked once, like actually choked not the noisy gagging people assume is choking. Was in Nando's with a friend and friend went to the toilet. Dd was about 2 and messing about with a chunk of chicken burger in her mouth. I told her to behave and sit down before she choked and the next thing she went quiet and looked shocked. A grabbed her and hit her on the back several times but nothing. By the time I watched her eyes roll back in her head I hit her harder than id ever like to hit my child and she threw up which I caught in my hands and gasped for breath. It seemed like forever but apart from the table next to us no one had even noticed. The lady at the table next to us was in tears and the man in shock. My mate came back with no idea what had happened

purplebatbear · 19/12/2021 23:05

Yes. Three times.

Buytoomuchonebay · 19/12/2021 23:06

I was once at work and a bloke walked in
There was something about him that made me start chatting to him
It turned out he wanted to kill himself (his girlfriend had dumped him,he wasn’t coping and loads of other stuff) and for some reason walked into my work on way to the nearest bridge
I walked to him for 8 hours (staying 4 hours after my shift) until he promised me he was going straight home via the doctors for help,then he was to contact stepchange for help in that area and to get some Kip
He came back in the next day to say he felt better and to thank me
I always thought of him but life moves on
I moved jobs and the other day he walked in with a new lady on his arm-she was pregnant with their first child,he’d got help for debts and was on an even keel again
It got pretty emotional and I’m just so bloody happy for him

I saved a child from choking on a chicken nugget and helped a lady in labour to stay calm-I don’t know if that’s saving a life but it could have gone wrong if she’d freaked out
She had a boy-she brought him in to meet me

Bagadverts · 19/12/2021 23:06

No - well done OP and everyone else that has.

SeaToSki · 19/12/2021 23:08

A car crash, the driver had brained himself on the steering wheel (no seat belt). I held his skull together until the paramedics arrived .. I asked a bystander to call them as everyone was standing around just watching and wringing their hands. I also managed the Dad in the other car involved who wanted me to stop holding the skull to come and check on his kids, I said if they are screaming they are breathing, go ask them if they are bleeding or broken…they were fine (were wearing seat belts) just v scared. I have never been so thankful for having done a first responders first aid course as it seemed interesting at the time.

A young child playing chase with friends by a quiet road while we waited for the older kids to arrive, he ran right past me as a car came down the road. I leant down and grabbed him under the armpits and swung him around to run back onto the field without even thinking. His Mum almost passed out that it was such a close call.

ThatLibraryMiss · 19/12/2021 23:09

I've helped to save several I think, but none I know about specifically - I'm a blood donor, having given 28 units so far.

Do sign up if you can. It takes less than an hour every four months (three for men), hardly hurts and it really does help to save lives. If you're in the UK you can go here to see where your next close event will be and make an appointment.They send you a nice notification when your donation has been used, with a map showing where it went.

Rhannion · 19/12/2021 23:09

A young man about 25 who was choking on his vomit and was so drunk he couldn’t turn over. He was ok, It was upsetting at the time.

PermanentTemporary · 19/12/2021 23:11

@TwistedOlivers it's not easy no. Two at work (hospitals) and one my husband. I'm not sure I am really over any of them. I've improved a lot at my job but I work with very frail people and sometimes my decisions are wrong. And my husband- it's very complicated and it's only clear to me what I could have done differently in hindsight.

Tarne · 19/12/2021 23:12

Yes, people with mh difficulties and suicide ideation.

A person who was driving off to crash their car and kill themselves. I got them to come to my house instead. This person is alive and we'll now, 10 years later, but often says how I had saved their life.

Drowning baby in pond, literally toppled into it and if I hadn't been watching, there would have been no trace as there was no splash as dropped like a stone without even a ripple. Freaks me out to this day.

Dilbertian · 19/12/2021 23:14

Two of my DC. The same thing happened to each of them at exactly the same age, but several years apart. They both choked on something and turned silently blue. It was as if everything went into slow motion, as I picked the child up, turned them over and slapped their back. The obstruction cleared and within seconds the child was fine. I, on the hand, turned into a trembling wreck, and I had to pull myself together and continue as normal. I could never bring myself to think about what might have happened, but thinking about what did happen actually gave me great confidence that I was able to look after my dc, and that I would be able to step up to the mark if they needed me.

Well done OP.

Cherryana · 19/12/2021 23:14

Hard to know what the outcome would have been- but I am glad we were there.

Winter time, was walking with my boyfriend home, after going out for dinner. When we heard a thin ‘help’. Behind a hedge, an old man had fallen in front of his house. We were able to get him up and in his house.

Thisbastardcomputer · 19/12/2021 23:15

I was at the bottom of my drive at my last house, I just happened to look up at the house opposite and a baby of about 18 months was stood in the upstairs open window and about to climb out.

I jumped out of my car, crossed the road and shouted at it to stop, thankfully it did, I could hear someone in the garden next door, so I shouted and asked him to go round next door to inform the parents.

I'm stood watching the baby and kept saying no, next thing a hand grabs the baby, closes the window and the curtains. No acknowledgement whatsoever to me.

Makes my blood run cold when I think about it.

pastypirate · 19/12/2021 23:16

Yes, couple of times. Used to have a. Diabetic housemate whose self care went down the pan during final year and has frequent hypos. It was awful and v scary.

Iwantcollarbones · 19/12/2021 23:18

I saved my dm a few months ago. Dad called to say she was unwell with d&v and violent shaking. I went to look after her, make sure she stayed hydrated etc. For some reason I asked if she was in any pain. She said her leg hurt. I had a look at her leg and it was red and swollen. Clearly cellulitis. That, with the sudden flu/gastric symptoms, made me decide she needed to be seen by a dr asap so I called an ambulance. She had sepsis and was in hospital when she crashed a few hours later.

StucklnAMuumuuCantGetOutOflt · 19/12/2021 23:19

Five times potentially
Heimlich manoeuvre on a pupil and a pen lid
Turning upside down and 3 hard slaps to a kid choking in a coffee shop
My son choking on a full-sized grape that got stuck in his gullet
My daughter from a pool
And I pulled a stranger's kid, who was going under, at the pool just last week

Fortunately, never had anyone unconscious and never had to do CPR
Kudos to all those that have, that's where you need nerves of steel
I personally think all 16 year olds should take a compulsory First Aid Course, alongside their GCSEs