Former Wakefield resident issues plea to find the mystery couple who saved her life

Donna, who is formerly of South Kirkby, had been on an eight-mile walk along Flamborough cliff top in June with two of her children when she felt short of breath and a tightness in her chest.

Luckily, a couple stopped to ask if Donna was okay. The woman called 999 before Donna suddenly collapsed in cardiac arrest.

That is when the man - who was a first-aider - recognised that he needed to start CPR. Within minutes, a six-strong coastguard team were on the scene, followed by a paramedic, an ambulance crew and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance who carried out advanced treatment.

The 39-year old was then airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in an induced coma. She regained consciousness a little after 24 hours and was discharged three days later.

Although Donna, who used to work as a teaching assistant at Moorthorpe Primary School in South Elmsall prior to moving to Bubwith in 2018, suffered a set-back after a few days when she was re-admitted to hospital with a blood clot on her lung, she is now on the road to recovery and is desperate to track down the couple who saved her life as their identities remain a mystery.

She said: “I feel very lucky. I knew it was serious. I didn’t think I would still be alive. The right people were in the right place at the right time. To think I was in a remote location with no-one around and then out of nowhere a first aider appeared who was able to start CPR and call 999.

“I still haven’t managed to track them down. All I know is that they were called Simon and Carol and they were heading to Bempton; I’d love to meet them one day to say thank-you.

“They were followed by an incredible team of professionals who saved my life. Without all their efforts I wouldn’t be here and my seven children would have lost their mum.

“I would urge anyone who doesn’t know CPR to learn, you just never know when you might need to use it.”

Donna was reunited with her life-savers from Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and HM Coastguard when they got together at Bridlington Ambulance Station in August to talk through what had happened on the cliff top.

Steve Johnson, a paramedic based at the ambulance station in Bridlington who assisted in treating Donna, said: “This incident demonstrates the importance of CPR being started as soon as possible. Having the opportunity to be involved in teamwork with the coastguard, an ambulance crew and air ambulance was an honour.

"There is no greater feeling than being part of a team and saving someone’s life, knowing that Donna gets to hold her children again.”

Sam Berridge, a paramedic with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “CPR is vital. People can be quite scared to do CPR but essentially if someone stops breathing and their heart stops beating, without CPR there is no chance of recovery.

“The fact two people were walking past who were trained and willing was brilliant because it would have been a very different outcome if they hadn’t been there.”

The incident was the first time the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire team had deployed their defibrillator since the kit was introduced on all coastguard rescue vehicles just three weeks earlier.

Fran Wilkins, Senior Coastal Operations Officer with HM Coastguard, explained: “It helped to give our staff on the ground the confidence that they were able to give the best care to Donna, and although the defibrillator didn’t need to shock her, it was able to guide what care they were giving so it was a really useful addition to the whole scenario.”

Today is Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s Restart a Heart Day.