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Top honours for life-saver Lyndsey

A midwifery student has been awarded a top lifesaving honour after assisting the victim of a stabbing in County Durham.

When a man collapsed in the street in Horden after suffering a single stab wound to the heart, Lyndsey Hepburn, a qualified nurse and current midwifery student at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, rushed to the scene. Lyndsey’s mum had been out running in the local area when she saw the situation unfold and hurried home to tell Lyndsey a man urgently needed help.

Already at the scene were members of the public Lisa Jones and off-duty nurse Kelly Percival, who were carrying out CPR. They were then joined by PC Jason Pool and Lyndsey who kept the man’s airways open.

The group managed to maintain the man’s pulse until an air ambulance arrived ten minutes later. A consultant then performed open heart surgery at the roadside, ultimately saving his life. He is now out of hospital and recovering at home.

Lyndsey said: ‘It was the first time I had done CPR since I qualified as a nurse in 2016. It all happened so quickly that I didn’t really think, I just sprang into action.

‘At the time I was completely zoned in on what I was doing trying to keep the man alive. Some of the victim’s family were at the scene so I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything I possibly could for them.’

‘I worked with Kelly, who was the other off-duty nurse on the scene, during my training at university. I hadn’t seen her since my placement, so it was remarkable that the next time we saw each other was in this situation.’

Along with Kelly, Lisa and PC Pool, Lyndsey was presented with a Royal Humane Society Award at a special event at Durham Constabulary headquarters in September.

‘As a nurse, it is just part of your job and you don’t necessarily expect to receive thanks. I was really overwhelmed and proud when I got the phone call to say that I was to receive an award,’ Lyndsey added.

‘If it wasn’t for everybody’s team work, I don’t think that he’d be here today. I was amazed at how the emergency services responded – it’s very rare for anyone to survive that kind of operation at the roadside. The air ambulance team in particular are fantastic.’

Lyndsey, a mum-of-four, is now studying PgDip Midwifery at º£½ÇÖ±²¥ so that she move from adult nursing to midwifery.

She said: ‘It’s something I have always wanted to do. I’m currently on placement at North Tees Hospital’s delivery suite and I will qualify as a midwife next June. I love everything about my course and I will definitely be back again to study a master’s so that I can specialise.’