28 - Helen is glad she happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Last year a lady collapsed right in front of me and landed straight on her head.
 
She started having a seizure and her elderly mam was panicking not knowing what to do. I'd seen what had happened and ran over to help with first aid.

As she was having her seizure another person was trying not to move her and keep her on her back. 

Luckily as I have worked for many years in the care industry I was able to explain she needed to be on her side, especially as she was foaming at the mouth or she would choke otherwise.  I calmly was able to explain that we had to support her head and role her onto her side while also asking another person to call for an ambulance.  I explained to her mam what was happening and began to time the seizure whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
 
Once the ambulance arrived she’d started coming out of the seizure not knowing what had happened. I told my own mam about the incident as we're quite close and turns out it was the wife of one of her clients, Mam is an insurance broker. Apparently the poor woman had a brain tumor and ended up in ICU but thankfully my training and ability to react quickly had helped keep her stable and the situation calm.
 
I only knew what I was doing because of always having been taught to do first aid and from my career as a carer for the elderly. I’ve dealt with anything from elderly people to those with learning disabilities and mental health. A few of the people I’ve looked after with learning disabilities used to have seizures so I knew how to spot one and what to do to keep them from harm until they come around.  
 
My message to EVERYBODY would be that just knowing a small amount of first aid can help save someone's life.  Don’t be afraid to help someone, if you know the basics and can support someone until help arrives and you’re able to stay calm and talk clearly to people around you as well as the person who is suffering then you could literally save a life. Everyone needs a bit of reassurance that things are going to be ok.