Daughter hailed for saving mother's life at work in South Yorkshire
Ellen Hallas was working on the production line at Kostal UK Ltd, in Goldthorpe, Rotherham, last December when she collapsed.
Her daughter Rachel leapt into action, performing CPR in an attempt to resuscitate Ellen, before helping colleagues use a defibrillator to get her heart beating again.
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Hide AdThe 25-year-old continued CPR until her mother started breathing again, before paramedics arrived and took over.
Ellen, aged 50, from Thurnscoe in Barnsley, spent five weeks in hospital and was fitted with a device which automatically shocks her heart into action should it stop beating. She is now on the mend and hopes to return to work soon.
But without the actions of team leader Rachel and her colleagues at the electrical manufacturing firm, Hilary South, Gavin Haynes and Paul Saunders, it could have been a very different story.
Rachel, also from Thurnscoe, attends medical emergencies in her neighbourhood as a qualified community first responder with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, but she never expected to have to use her training to help her own mother.
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Hide Ad"I went into autopilot when I saw mum had collapsed. When I began as a community first responder I didn’t know if I would be able to attempt CPR on anyone, never mind a close family member," she said.
"I'm really glad I had those skills and knew what to do as I don't think my mum would still be here if I hadn't.
"It was the scariest moment in my life when I realised it was my mum, and the best moment ever when she started breathing again."
Rachel and her life-saving workmates were recognised by the ambulance service at the company's base on Wednesday for their life-saving actions.
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Hide AdEmma Scott, community defibrillation officer at YAS, said: "Rachel's swift action, calmness and bravery when faced with the collapse of her own mother are things she should be incredibly proud of.
"A combination of early CPR and defibrillation can dramatically increase a cardiac arrest patient's chance of survival, and her mum is testament to this."
Ellen is the third patient to be resuscited using one of the 14 defibrillators given to local employers under the Rotherham Heart Town initiative, co-funded by the British Heart Foundation and Westfield Health.
Kostal's facilities manager Gary Webley, praised Rachel and her colleagues, who are trained in first aid. He said the firm planned to buy more defibrillators to protect its employees in future.
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