You did your best you tried, thats all the patient could have asked for, others may have walked past very fast.

Sounds like you did an absolutely superb job but what you seen is pretty unpleasant. If you want to chat send my private message,

You can only do your best. Seems a horrible situation to be in. Dont beat yourself up about it.

I’ll just echo what onzadog and Drac and others have said.

You did your best, it sounds like you reacted very well and its very unlikely anything different you could have done would have made any difference.

I’d also echo dracs offer but he would be far better at it than me. contact him if troubled by all this – It would trouble the most hardened professional among us

Nothing to add to sensible words already posted other than my best wishes

I witnessed something similar many years ago, although the fall backwards was caused by a punch. I didn’t have to do a lot, other than moniter, as, although totally unresponsive, the guy still had a pulse and was breathing. Unfortunately the guy died a few days later from the massive head injury he sustained.
For a while, like you, I wondered if I could have done more, but eventually I realised that he was probably brain dead when his head hit the floor.
At the trial the judge thanked me for my efforts and outside the court the lads mothers stopped me and thanked me for trying to do something.
As others have said, the guys family will be grateful that you acted.

Geetee, well done you did a good job. I hope someone as level headed is around should I ever need assistance.

I hope this doesn’t sound too callous, but from your description the man appears to have had little chance of recovery. There is something to be said for a quick and painless death – I would not want to be treated following a huge head trauma.

As others have said, conducting immediate CPR on a previously fit, young, and completely healthy person who has suffered a sudden traumatic injury due to an accident or incident can make a difference, but CPR on someone who is in that life threatening condition due to an underlying condition, well, that’s a whole different situation!

You did your best, that’s all you could do, and by the sounds of it, way better than a lot (the majority probably) of people could have done. When it’s your time, it’s your time, but we often forget that these days when we just expect our 1st world medical science to save us…..

I have to echo the sentiments – well done geetee for showing true courage.

A couple of years ago, my dad’s neighbour banged on his door, ranting something incoherent about his wife. They lived in a block of flats and their doors were across from each other. The neighbour’s door was ajar so my dad went in for a look while the neighbour wandered around the hallway, still babbling.

My dad found the wife in the bathroom, half sat, leaning against the wall with some sheets around her neck tied up to the vertical towel rail. He immediately supported her, untied the sheet, got her into a recovery position (hard in a small bathroom) shouted for my mum to call 999 and administered CPR until the ambulance cam 10 minutes later. He couldn’t get a pulse.

The paramedics took over but soon realized she was beyond saving. She’d broken her neck when initially jumped off the bath. It’s incredible to believe how she managed it, as the towel rail was only 5ft tall. Must’ve just taken a dive.

They told him there was nothing he could’ve done, but did the right things trying. Took him a while to get over it.

This was just before his decline into the debilitating phases of stage 4 renal cancer. I watched him die a few weeks ago, which was incredibly tough knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do apart from be there for him and my mum. A great bloke who let his actions speak louder than his words. Rest in peace, dad.

Good job OP.

I have also attempted CPR and got a bad result. (On my own Dad, on an MTB ride as it happens). 14 years on and i can still remember every minute of the 90 minutes it took to get him to A&E. And it was as recently as last night that I last questionned the decisions I took on the day.

I don’t really want to dwell on this long enough to read the conjecture in the other posts, so sorry if this is largely repetition. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You did your best, and certainly a lot more than other people there. You were up against shocking odds.

You’re doing the right thing to talk it through on here, and to try to get something positive about it i.e. The first aid course. That’ll help. But don’t be surprised if you still struggle a bit. Quiet moments were the worst for me eg gym, bike etc. It’ll take a while to settle down in your head, maybe a few months or over a year. Without realising, my experience made me emotionally withdraw from life and almost cost me my relationship. Maybe others on here can advise better, but there must be some things you can do to help your loved ones understand what you are dealing with.

Once again, well done, and take it easy on yourself. Drop me a line on the email if you want to talk one to one. Chrispeeuk at y@hoo.

Chris

Oh, and if you haven’t done so already, maybe consider postponing your visit to the family for a day or so. Maybe until after the funeral. They won’t be taking much in at this stage.

As a first aider myself this is a horrid situation, but you really did the right thing and did your best. It sounds like there was little you could do, but like many of us you tried as sometimes those 1% survivals happen. Unfortunately you got the 99%. Take care of yourself and take comfort that the guy had a better chance of surviving with you than he would without you.

Geetee

Well done that man!

Reading your post as an uninvolved person what I saw in simple terms (as I am typing on phone) was…

Man collapses near you

You rush to his aid

Without formal medical training you intervene to do what you can and deal with what appears to be a pressing and central bit of his injuries.

You talked to him and possibly provided comfort

You made sure the emergency services were getting there and you stayed around helping them

You got support from a 999 call handler and it sounds like some of the bystanders are less than outstandingly cooperative.

Whatever went wrong was bloody serious and stood a good chance of causing this person’s death.

You gave them a chance that they may not have otherwise had at all.

So I repeat myself, well done you.

The fact that you are worrying you could have done things differently or better is natural because of the outcome and clearly because you are a decent human being.

God/sky fairies forbid that I drop down like that one day. If I do I hope someone like you is there to help.

I hope you find a way to switch off from this.

Also, good on you for thinking about a 1st aid course.

Dude, you have my whole hearted pat on the back, and my sympathy.. Now… I think there’s two elements to this…

1) the third party… The poor bloke and his family. What would they want others to do? To be honest I think they’d want people to do exactly what you did do. Help. In any way possible. You did that. Hold your head high.

2) then there’s you…. You’re questioning what you could have done differently. Think about that logically without emotion. Let that sink in for a moment…

…Then set about addressing it. What would make you feel better equipped to deal with a situation like that if it ever happened again? Make it happen. Equip yourself. Emerse yourself in it. Feel more able to handle it.

Horrible situation. Time is a good healer.

If the definition of hero is “one who shows great courage”, you sir are a hero. Take comfort in the fact that you did all you could. Top man.

Well done geetee, seriously.

I wouldn’t have had the first clue what to do.

Based on your undertaking I too will sign up for a first aid course. It’s a piece of nonsense that basic First Aid isn’t taught at schools as a compulsory subject.

Just as a slight aside. Has the latest advice on first aid changed with the recovery position ?

In a hospital setting they no longer use it.

I used the recovery position in the Summer.

A woman standing next to me on a hot day in Place Stan, Nancy, fell with a heavy thud. There was a pulse and breathing so I put her in the recovery position. She came round and sat up against the monument of her own accord. We got her talking but then she went quiet and I thought she was going to be sick so I put her back in the recovery position, at which point she vommited a very thick heavy meal. I reckon that if I hadn’t put her in the recovery position I’d have had to clear airways.

The pompiers turned up, I gave them the info she’d told me when briefly lucid and left them to deal with it.

Just an update.

I want to say a sincere and heart felt thankyou for the wonderful responses on this thread. They mean a lot to me and have helped a great deal in processing what was a traumatic experience.

In summary, this gentleman died while I was holding him. This has been confirmed to me even though the paramedics were momentarily able to get his heart beating again, he had technically died moments even before they had arrived.

My own emotional experience though is not even a small fraction of the grief his family are feeling right now and so from here forward, my thoughts will be with them. I need to move on from own sense of grief; it is too small compared to theirs to warrant further indulgence.

I’ve spoken in person now with some members of his family including his daughter. Understandably, for someone so young (he was only 57) and so well loved and popular, they are all in a profound state of shock. That they also know he was not alone and our being there with him was focused as much on providing emotional comfort as it was first aid, seems to have made a difference to them. I feel a sense of duty to try and attend his funeral if I can; this is one of those moments in life where a positive connection can be made.

I would encourage everyone here to recognise that we all have opportunities to be good people evey day; to realise that small things make a big difference and that these small things are everywhere if we only take the time to look for them.

Thank you again.

Greg

Well done, fella….

I would encourage everyone here to recognise that we all have opportunities to be good people evey day; to realise that small things make a big difference and that these small things are everywhere if we only take the time to look for them.

Love it.

would encourage everyone here to recognise that we all have opportunities to be good people evey day; to realise that small things make a big difference and that these small things are everywhere if we only take the time to look for them.

Maybe we need this on a tee-shirt or something.

You did what you could, and far more than most people would have done, well done – try not to beat yourself up about it. From the update it sounds like there was nothing you could have done to save him – as mentioned before, as much as we’re taught about “life saving” techniques, as often as not when faced with somebody in such a critical state even a fully trained paramedic couldn’t save them.

In case it helps at all I’ll mention an incident I was involved in – was lifguarding at a sponsored swim when a chap had a heart attack (as we later found out) in the middle of the pool. Was noticed almost immediately and several of us dived in to rescue him. Was probably underwater for 10 or 20s and within a minute out on the poolside having CPR from people who instructed in performing that (I was fairly junior so didn’t get involved, though I helped get him out of the pool). Paramedics came and did what they could – I think he was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. Almost certainly already effectively dead by the time we got him out of the pool – middle of the swimming pool probably wasn’t ideal, but other than that it’s hard to imagine being somewhere to have a heart attack outside of a hospital where you’d have a better chance of being saved. Sometimes there is nothing you can do and you just have to accept that.

Though actually short of doing the impossible and saving his life you did the best thing possible. I hope there is somebody like you around if I ever pop my clogs like that.

I agree with all that has been said here – sounds like you did brilliantly. I had kind people stick around to help me when I needed it once, and that made a big difference.

One small thing though – it’s not indulgent for you to recognise your feelings about this. Wouldn’t make sense for you to say “Boo hoo, poor me” to his daughter, of course, but you’re still allowed to be affected by it, and would be well advised to pay a little bit of attention to that, I should think.

Geetee, you are obviously one of the world’s good people.
As everyone else has already said you could not have done anything more and did much more than most would ever do.

I would encourage everyone here to recognise that we all have opportunities to be good people evey day; to realise that small things make a big difference and that these small things are everywhere if we only take the time to look for them.

I was at a family funeral yesterday, and these words absolutely ring true. Well done OP, you sound like just a fantastic person, and stepped up amongst the most testing of situations. Good luck in your own recovery from the trauma.

OP – hopefully you’ve come to terms with the facts that it sounds as though there wasn’t anything more anyone could have done, but by trying you at least gave the guy a chance.

If you’re still not sure you could’ve done any more, I bet I’m not the only one to have read the thread and decided that I need some first aid training……you might not have been able to save the guy you helped, but indirectly you’ll probably end up helping a fair few others

every cloud and all that…….

I’m guessing it was this incident – http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/southern-staff-praised-quick-actions-13683534

I was actually reading this yesterday and thought, well done to those that helped. My experience is that people aren’t always quick to get involved.

Twice I’ve had to attend to emergency situations (neither as serious as this). The first a “homeless looking” man on Guildford High street had fallen over and was bleeding quite badly from a head wound, myself and my girlfriend tended to him and called the emergency services. My lasting memory from this was just how many people ignored a person clearly in distress (literally stepping around him) before we took action – I actually get angry thinking back on it.

The second was in a cobblers in Farnham, where another homeless looking bloke fell backwards and hit his head hard on a concrete ledge. He immediately started fitting and I ended up taking control after the shopkeeper and the one other customer panicked. Stuck him in the recovery position, dialled 999 and the call handler stayed on the phone talking me through what should be done (the handler was brilliant) – CPT was needed.

The fact that you stepped out of the crowd and tried your damndest to save this persons life should be commended. I don’t think there is anything more that you could have done. Don’t beat yourself up, you should be thanked for all that you did

I’m guessing it was this incident –

Yes that is the incident and yes the station staff were amazing as were the paramedics and the doctor on the scene.

I’ve dealt with a few first aid first response situations over the years, it always amazes me how often people stand around staring. I think they just don’t know what to do, and having someone boss them around telling them what to do is what they need

I have to say that none of the ones I’ve dealt with were anywhere near as bad as what you’ve had to deal with, sounds like you did a bloody good job, well done. No one here would have done anything different

Geetee Last night before I fell asleep I found myself thinking about how I would be feeling in your present situation. Though you did your best you will be emotionally scarred by your experience. My thoughts are with you mate. Hope you can get back on track quickly.

Ian

Geetee Last night before I fell asleep I found myself thinking about how I would be feeling in your present situation. Though you did your best you will be emotionally scarred by your experience. My thoughts are with you mate. Hope you can get back on track quickly.

I’ve been thinking about whether i should respond to this. I don’t want to be the last person commenting on a thread I started about my experience. I can admit that, as a person, I have a tendency to enjoy attention and while the positive comments on this thread and your own kind words Ian, have been of great comfort, I feel at this point extending that any further would move from comfort to indulgence on my part. It’s a character flaw I can acknowledge, but not one I want to indulge here. So thank you, but from here on, it should be about the gentleman’s family, not my experience.

If I’ve learned anything else from this experience, it is to try to be a better person. If you find yourself in a situation where you’ve done something that other people commend you for, I think you’ve also now got a responsibility to make good on that commendation and become a better person.

I think on here that means not being quite such an arse!

What I experiecned was both traumatic, upsetting but also an incredible priviledge. I’ve reconciled in my head how I want to feel about it and that’s my conclusion. I was given a chance to make a difference to both him and his family. I’ve spoken with his daughter as well as other family members and I will try to get to the funeral if I can. They are all in such a deep state of shock, quite understandably. They’ve told me about him, about how he was a wonderful father, about how he had no malice in him, how everyone who knew him loved him.

So time to move on. Thank you all.

Well said