A teenage air cadet who raced to the aid of a pensioner suffering a heart attack is to be honoured with a prestigious award.
Flight Sergeant Christopher Falkingham, 17, didn’t hesitate when he was walking with his grandparents and spotted the collapsed woman in Inverness city centre.
The teenager, from Balloch, played a major role in helping 73-year-old Georgina Latham, immediately going to her aid and identifying himself as a first aider and began work attempting to revive her.
He was joined by an A&E doctor and nurse who diagnosed that Mrs Latham, from Inverness, had suffered cardiac arrest.
Christopher and the nurse immediately began administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and managed to restore Mrs Latham’s breathing.
However, she stopped breathing again and they resumed CPR and continued until an ambulance arrived with a defibrillator, used to shock Mrs Latham’s heart back into action. Christopher then continued using a bag and a mask to give her ‘rescue breaths’ until she was taken to hospital.
Now, he has been awarded a Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificate – and has also won the personal praise of Royal Humane Society Secretary, Dick Wilkinson.
Mr Wilkinson said: “Christopher had only received basic first aid training with the Air Cadets and the British Heart Foundation but he put it to superb use. He worked with adults he had never met before and played a major role in saving Mrs Latham.
“Time is of the essence in situations such as this and fortunately Christopher was on the spot more or less when the lady collapsed. He richly deserves the award he is to receive.”
No date has yet been fixed for presentation of the award but it is expected to be made in the near future.
