'I saved a life just four days after I learnt CPR'

A restaurant manager who performed CPR, days after she completed her first aid course, has helped to save a man's life.

Ella McCauley, 21, who works in Rugby, had recently been promoted, with her boss asking her to complete the course before she started her new role.

Four days later, Ms McCauley was called on while at work to help a man called David who had experienced a cardiac arrest.

Ms McCauley said performing CPR in a real life emergency was "like something out of film".

"A lady from a nearby hairdressers came in and said 'Is anyone here first aid trained?' and I was like 'Oh yeah, what a coincidence, me'".

She said David was unresponsive when she entered the shop, so she put him in the recovery position and checked his breathing.

"He was quite a tall guy, so it was quite difficult. There were a few people so we managed to get him on the floor, but by this point he was blue and it was really really terrifying," Ms McCauley added.

An ambulance was already on its way and the call handler asked Ms McCauley if she could do CPR.

"It felt like a an out-of-body experience, I couldn't tell you how long it was for," she said.

"When I was doing my training I was absolutely exhausted, but this was just one of those moments where you just do it."

Ms McCauley continued to do chest compressions while the ambulance crew cut off the man's clothes and prepared the defibrillator.

She added that she talked out loud to reassure David and said it helped to remind her of the steps that she had learnt only four days earlier.

Ms McCauley met David's family the day after the incident and said it was "such an emotional moment".

"To meet them and have them say such kind words, it was such a surreal moment."

Ms McCauley said she did not realise how important first aid training was until she was faced with a real life emergency.

"I even thought during the training, 'I'm never going to use this', I was by far the youngest person there, everyone else was on refresher courses and they all said 'no I've never had to use it'.

"I'm living proof of how important the training is and it should be taken so seriously," the 21-year-old said.

"There's a family out there that now has their dad and husband, I think that's a very powerful message," she added.

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