Siblings recognised by Scottish Ambulance Service for saving mum's life

Following Donna Liddle’s cardiac arrest at home, her children, Oliver 11, and Arianna 9, contacted the ambulance service without delay.

Arianna called 999 after finding her mum unresponsive on the floor while Oliver put her into the recovery position.  After speaking to call handler, Declan Cowan of the West Ambulance Control Centre (ACC), several ambulance staff were dispatched by Katrina Oag of North ACC, with the first resource arriving within six minutes.

Donna, of Aberdeen, said: “My husband and I are extremely proud of our children. Without a shadow of doubt, they saved my life. They were faced with a traumatic situation a lot of adults would struggle with. “

The family visited Aberdeen Ambulance Station recently to meet some of the staff who attended, including Monica Hurley, Newly Qualified Paramedic, Gregor Mcintosh, from the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (EMRS) North team, John McCook, Technician, and James McAulay, a Paramedic operating a Rapid Response vehicle. Dr David Connor, Consultant in Pre-Hospital Medicine with EMRS North, also attended the incident.

Oliver and Arianna were presented with certificates and SAS teddies for their bravery.

Speaking of the incident, Donna said: “I was at home alone with my two children – my husband was in London with work. We were about to leave for school, I was brushing my teeth, and my daughter came to look for me finding me on the floor unresponsive. She screamed for her brother to come and help. Arianna called 999 whilst Oliver tried to put me into the recovery position.

“Oliver also spoke to the call handler whilst my daughter ran across the road to get our neighbours. She felt immediate help was needed as I had turned blue and not breathing. My neighbours started giving me CPR before the emergency services arrived.” 

After the ambulance staff arrived, CPR was continued, and she was given three defibrillation shocks which successfully restarted her heart. The team delivered her an emergency anaesthetic and transferred her to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she spent a total of 15 nights in hospital.

She added: “My recovery is going well. I had an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) implanted; this amazing technology should work to pace my heart out of a fatal arrhythmia if it occurs again and if this fails it will give a shock similar to that of a defibrillator. The survival statistics of a cardiac arrest are low, and I feel very grateful to be here to tell the tale. We cannot believe the kindness and compassion the SAS staff demonstrated. The kids are delighted with the certificates.”

Monica said: “We’re so pleased to see Donna has made such a good recovery. The brave actions of her children saved her life that day – early intervention is critical in Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests. It was wonderful to see Donna and her children again. I felt emotional myself when they were getting their certificates. The children really did remain so calm throughout the whole incident. I’ll never forget the hug I got from the children after we got her heart beating back to a sustainable rhythm and we could tell them their mum is in a stable condition thanks to the help of the trauma team. We wish her all the best in her recovery and fundraising.”

Donna is now aiming to raise £10,000 for the NHS Grampian Charity’s Cardiology Fund, with support from her children’s school friends and she is hosting a ticketed dinner on the 7^th March in Aberdeen. Monica and John have also volunteered to go to their kids’ school to teach CPR. Visit here to find out more: