Quick-thinking Asda workers saved a baby's life after hearing a frantic mum scream "someone help me".
Staff members rushed to the aid of a mum when her little boy was found to be unconscious and unresponsive. Colleagues Laura Black, Holly Sim and Clare Hopps sprung into action after the alarm was raised at the superstore in Gateshead.
The heroic trio have been praised for saving the day and preventing a tragedy is the aisle. "My heart just sank", 39-year-old security section leader Laura said.
Read more: Leeds' 'worst Travelodge' where guests are 'kept awake by noise' and rooms 'stink of weed'
She added: "All I heard was someone saying 'can someone help me, help me, please' and I saw this lady cradling her son. I got them into the first aid room and him onto the bed to assess the situation. He was non-responsive, but still breathing, although it was very shallow.
"I knew the situation wasn't great so I immediately dialled 999." Laura then passed the phone on to her colleague Holly, who relayed the information to the call handler as Laura set about trying to help the sick youngster. Holly said: "The baby had a very high temperature – he was so warm he was cooking. I started to strip him down.
"Being a mum myself and having many years of first aid knowledge, I just knew I had to get this little one cool." The 999 team instructed Holly to get the store's defibrillator after hearing the seriousness of the baby's condition, but thankfully it did not need to be used. "I turned the little boy onto his side and gently nudged him. He cried, as he didn't like it, but it was a such relief that he came round," Laura said, who has worked at the store for 22 years.
Fellow Asda staff member Clare helped to comfort and calm the boy's distressed mum as they waited for paramedics to arrive. The baby was checked over and given medication in the store by responders, before being able to go home.
The mum has since returned to the store to thank the colleagues and to tell them her son had recovered, but was undergoing tests. Staff member Laura said: When the medics arrived they said we'd done the right thing. What went on for possibly 20 to 30 minutes felt like a lifetime," she admitted. "I just did what any first aider would have done and mum instincts kicked in as well.
"I was proud of what I did and being able to assist. The key component was to not panic and intuitively do what I've been trained to do."
The staff member added: "Afterwards I went for a glass of water and locked myself away in the security room and I actually did cry."
Tracey Warren, customer trading manager of the Gateshead store, said: "We're all so proud of Laura, Holly and Clare for what they did. The boy's mam came into the store the following week to see me. She was in floods of tears and said it if wasn't for the colleagues' actions that day her little boy may not be here today."
Read next:
