A Burnham-On-Sea teenager helped to save the life of a diver by giving him CPR when he was left ‘unconscious and unbreathing’ following an accident in Weymouth at the weekend.
Hannah Bird, 17, a water skiing enthusiast and lifeguard, was training on the south coast on Sunday (May 1st) with her father Steve, pictured, when she heard about the man’s condition and swam over to help him.
She said: “Sunday’s training didn’t go quite as planned. I was just about to get my ski on when an emergency mayday call came through of an unconscious, unbreathing diver in the bay.”
“We quickly drove round in the boat, I jumped into the water and swam to their boat where they dragged me in. They all looked at me weird as I look much younger than I am but I assured them that I was qualified and could help.”
“I started CPR until the air helicopter arrived but trying to keep everyone in the boat calm and with a bunch of strangers, was very hard.”
“We continued CPR for 25 minutes whilst trying to put the defib into him, cutting off his wetsuit and putting the helicopter harness onto the man.”
She added: “This is the reason why I love my job as a lifeguard because you really don’t know when you’re going to need to use your training. So next time you think that all a lifeguard does is sit on a red chair, please think again.”
The middle-aged man was air-lifted to nearby Dorchester Hospital and his condition was unknown.
Hannah is a lifeguard at Burnham-On-Sea Swim & Sports Academy and, as a keen water skier, is bidding to qualify for the World Championships in 2017 and is the current GB and European Champion in her age group.
Pictured: Top, Hannah and her father Steve. Centre – the incident underway and, above, water ski training
