Chester shop owner praises team who helped save woman's life

It was on Wednesday, June 30 on Bridge Street when the woman, who had been out in Chester with her family, collapsed without warning and hit her head on the ground, losing consciousness.

The team at the Chester Boutique shop of Imogen Kaye, Georgina Farrall, Liz Bryan and Eluned Brown promptly rang for an ambulance, with one of the team collecting the nearest defibrillator from the Chester Grosvenor Hotel, while the staff also giving the woman privacy.

By remarkable fortune, an off-duty cardiology nurse, who happened to be visiting Chester that day, was in a nearby café and gave CPR to the woman until paramedics arrived, and it all meant that the woman was breathing and conscious by the time she was taken away in an ambulance.

Dawn Robinson, who runs Chester Boutique, a ladies clothing store, was full of praise for her staff in the store that day for their prompt and professional response, with the woman – named Sharon – recovering in hospital and awaiting surgery.

Sharon's husband visited Chester Boutique on Saturday with twin boys Hayden and Heath, to thank the store for helping save Sharon's life.

Dawn said: "We have spoken to them and they said it had never happened before and she is unbelievably lucky to be alive.

"The girls were amazing, they were very shaken at what happened but they provided a wall around the woman with scarves so she couldn't be seen by members of the public passing by, and Suzi [Kincla] from Suzi K's was comforting one of the sons. One of the girls called for an ambulance and they were told where to pick up the defibrillator, as the woman's heart stopped twice.

"They did so well – one of the girls is only 19. I have transferred enough money to the four girls to say, when they feel like it, to get a bottle of fizz, as they deserve it. The four girls, and the nurse and the paramedics, they were amazing.

Sharon's husband Lee and their two twin sons Heath and Hayden visited the Chester Boutique store on Saturday to thank staff for what they did, bringing chocolates and flowers.

Hayden wrote on the Chester Boutique Facebook page: "Honestly can't thank you guys enough. You saved my mum's life and I couldn't repay you enough for it. She is recovering and is alive because of you and the nurses who were luckily there outside your shop whilst on holiday."

Thanking the Chester Boutique team on social media, the cardiology nurse who gave CPR that day said: "Your team were a credit to you. I felt I could 100 per cent concentrate on the lady needing treatment while others stepped in to look after her family and maintain her dignity, which made a stressful situation so much better."

Despite the clearly traumatic scene, Dawn added a customer tried to make a complaint to staff at the time of the incident.

Dawn said: "This woman was on a walker and one of my girls was on the phone to the ambulance service at the time, and said she would be with her soon and offered her a chair to wait if needed, but this woman then said this was the worst customer service she had ever experienced and she was going to make a complaint.

"She is not welcome back here; I don't want her custom."

Dawn added the incident was a massive wake-up call for Chester city centre to have more defibrillators which could be easily accessed on the main streets.

She said: "I have a pacemaker and my husband has seen me black out four times. The last time was on a country road when I wasn't feeling well, and it took the ambulance 22 minutes to get there. My husband later told me if it had been much longer, I might not have woken up.

"My son was watching the Denmark game the other week, when the player collapsed. I was transfixed; how that [Christian] Eriksen survived, thank the Lord someone was looking down on him that day.

"It shows it can happen to anyone, even if you have no history of heart problems.

"Since this incident I have been looking at the costs of defibrillators and every single main street in Chester should have one. Even those extra 100 yards could be the difference between life and death.

"More and more people are shopping and dining in Bridge Street, Northgate Street and Watergate Street. There needs to be more defibrillators, ideally on all those streets and in Eastgate Street as well. I will start the ball rolling for businesses on Bridge Street, as this has been a big wake-up call."

Dawn added the team was happy to welcome Sharon into the shop upon her recovery.

Currently, there is no dedicated publicly accessible map with a complete list of all known defibrillator locations.

If someone is suspected of having a cardiac arrest, anyone calling 999 can be directed by the ambulance service to the location of the nearest defibrillator.

A project named 'The Circuit: The National Defibrillator Network', is being used by the NHS to assist members of the public. For more information, visit https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/defibrillators/ndn-the-circuit