Kip Knowles, 58, has reunited with the three school staff members who saved his life last year, after he collapsed in cardiac arrest while cycling alone on the South Downs. PE teacher Stacey Charman, cookery teacher Chellie Messenger and school nurse Claire Agnew performed CPR for around 25 minutes and used a defibrillator to restart his heart. The women were honoured by St John Ambulance’s Lifesavers at Work Awards for their lifesaving actions, Sussex World reported. The charity launched the initiative to recognise inspirational lifesavers in workplaces across the UK. The event was held at Chapter Hall at St John’s Gate, London.“Every one of the winners was an ordinary person who refused to give up on someone whose life was slipping away. These people are alive today because someone nearby knew what to do, and that should be true for everyone in this country,” Shona Dunn, CEO of St John Ambulance, said at the event.“Cardiac arrest is the emergency that workers fear the most, yet two in five say they wouldn’t know how to perform CPR. That’s a gap we can close, and the workplace is where we can close it the fastest.“St John Ambulance has almost 20,000 volunteers keeping communities safe across the UK, but by training more first aiders in the workplace, we can create millions more lifesavers. Each of them takes those skills home to their family, onto the high street and into their community.”
How three colleagues saved a stranger’s life
It was a regular afternoon. After lunch, Stacey Charman and Chellie Messenger were on a walk from Windlesham House School when Chellie’s dog, Waffle, led them along an unusual route. They saw a cyclist collapse on the road. The cyclist was Kip Knowles, 57, who had been riding alone on the South Downs. He had collapsed in cardiac arrest.They didn’t freeze. Stacey began CPR straight away. “Everything was a complete blur apart from Kip. I was in the zone, the training kicked in, and nothing around me could stop me from carrying on,” she told the outlet. Chellie wasted no time. She called 999 and used her walkie-talkie to radio the school for its defibrillator. Chellie was performing CPR on a person other than a training manikin for the first time. “It was horrible to see, but we didn’t stop. It wasn’t a case of ‘that’s it, he’s gone’. I was thinking – this man is the age of my husband,” she said.Soon, school nurse Claire Agnew arrived with the defibrillator. She has worked in nursing for 42 years and admits that her first thought was that Kip was dead. She delivered two shocks. “I thought he was dead. I know what a dead body looks like; I’ve done this for 42 years.” After roughly 25 minutes of CPR, Kip took a breath and sat up. That day, Kip Knowles got his life back. Exactly one year after the incident, he reunited with the three women as they were honoured with national lifesaving awards.
The man recalls the day
Kip had been in and out of consciousness before he stopped breathing altogether, and the team had kept going regardless. “I was on my bike in the middle of nowhere; I hadn’t seen anyone for hours. The ladies did CPR on me for around 25 minutes. I was going in and out of consciousness, and by the time Claire arrived with the defib, I’d stopped breathing, and they thought it was too late,” he told the outlet. Kip added that the three women had saved his life that afternoon. “But they didn’t give up on me, and I wouldn’t be here today without them.”Kip’s wife, Lucy, was the one who nominated the women for the award. “Our lives, and the lives of so many family and friends, would have crumbled had these angels not been there that day.”GP and broadcaster Dr Nighat Arif, who presented the award, emphasised the importance of immediate action in a medical emergency and how it can determine whether someone lives or dies. “As a GP, I know the minutes before an ambulance arrives can decide whether someone lives or dies, and the most important person then isn’t a doctor; it’s whoever is nearby.”“I’ve met people who used what they learnt at work to bring someone back to their family. I talk about health on TV, but what these winners did with their own hands is the most powerful message of all. They have demonstrated the greatest act of humanity in real life,” she added.