Peterlee Asda workers hailed heroes for saving man's…

Peterlee Asda workers hailed heroes for saving man's life after he collapsed at petrol pump

Two workers at an Asda store in County Durham have been hailed as heroes for helping to save a man's life after he collapsed at a petrol pump.

Finola Clarkson and Lisa Cuppit, who both work at the Peterlee branch, have been praised by a customer who collapsed with severe anaemia. Finola, who has worked at Asda since 1999, was taking her break when she spotted the man collapse by a petrol pump and the pair immediately sprung into action.

Lisa phoned 999 for an ambulance and the pair cordoned off the area. They kept the man conscious by chatting to him, while also speaking to the ambulance control. It later transpired that the customer needed urgent medical care including several blood transfusions and he is still recovering in the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton.

He has since thanked the two women for their life-saving actions and they have both been praised by colleagues. The man said: "The ladies from Asda went above and beyond their normal job role and deserve recognition for their actions. I'd like to thank them so much for everything they did on that day."

Explaining what happened, Finola, 54, said: "The gentleman was very yellow and kept telling us he needed a blood transfusion. We just kept talking about all sorts of things to keep him conscious.

"It was raining and quite cold so we managed to get him off the ground and onto a chair from the office. We then made the decision to link arms and get him into the building."

They managed to get in touch with his wife who came to the petrol station and decided to take him to hospital by car rather than wait for an ambulance. Finola added: "I think we did well, as the situation could have turned a lot worse. The first aid training that we had automatically kicked in."

Finola Clarkson and Lisa Cuppit who work at Asda in Peterlee store have been hailed as heroes (Asda)

Lisa, 33, went on: "We are very proud of what we did. It's a good job that we were first aid trained. It would have been awful if we weren't.

"By the sounds of it, it's a good job it happened somewhere like here so he could get the help he needed straight away. It was lucky that he pulled in for fuel when he did otherwise it could have happened while he was driving.

"Having first aid is brilliant; everyone should know what to do when confronted by a situation like this. It was honestly terrifying, but we helped someone, didn't we, so it was worth it."

The pair, who work at the store's petrol filling station, have both been nominated for Asda service superstar, with store manager Steven McKenna, saying: "They were absolute superstars, lifesavers! They jumped into action and were able to keep him conscious.

"The gentleman needed emergency medical care and ended up in hospital needing seven pints of blood. The hospital told him that the intervention from our colleagues certainly helped to save the gentleman's life. Well done ladies."

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