Sunderland table tennis player praised after performing life-saving CPR on a team mate
A Sunderland table tennis player came to the rescue of a team mate by delivering life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at a local league match.
George Daley reacted instantly when he saw his West CA team mate, a senior medical practitioner for the NHS in Sunderland, in trouble at a game last November.
The team mate is now recovering well and is extremely grateful to George for his timely life saving intervention.
George learnt his skills whilst a student at Red House Comprehensive School as part of his Silver Duke of Edinburgh award, and he went on to practice them as a volunteer lifeguard at the school every Wednesday evening for two years.
After school he joined Wearmouth Colliery on a Mining Manager Apprenticeship scheme, where his lifeguard experience helped him.
"During my time at the pit I had to renew my lifesaving certificate, with a refresher on CPR, as to become deputy you needed to hold a full first aid certificate," he said.
Due to the demise of the coal industry, George didn’t get chance to progress his career further than the coal face, yet he continued the renewal of his certificate over the years.
He added: “Not once during those 32 years did I need to put the skills into practice – last November at West it was all down to instinct and only when it was over did I wonder how I remembered what to do.”
As a result of George's efforts, the Sunderland Table Tennis Association contacted Sergio Petrucci, of the Red Sky Foundation, who has committed to install defibrillators in all of the table tennis league venues within the Sunderland league, as well as on-going training and support to all team players on their usage as well as CPR delivery.
To help raise capital to buy the new equipment, Howard McCain, a player for St Gabriel’s, is hoping to raise funds by completing the Red Sky Foundation Cycle challenge in late June.
To support Howard, fundraising details are available at https://redskyfoundation.enthuse.com/pf/howard-mccain
George is encouraging the learning and adoption of invaluable life-saving skills.
He said: “I think it is vital that people today have the opportunity to assist someone in need – the work of the Red Sky Foundation in liaison with our Table Tennis Association and other community groups in the North East is massively important.”