A ST ANDREW’S First Aid volunteer who saved a man’s life on her first day back after her son’s death is fronting a £500,000 fundraiser for the charity.
The 138-year-old organisation has seen its regular sources of income all but wiped out due to the impact of Covid-19, and faces challenging decisions about how it can continue to deliver its services for the future.
Volunteer Liz Seymour, from Hamilton, who joined the East Kilbride Company 18 years ago, is urging people to support the campaign. The 55-year-old lost her eldest son, Mark, a fit young man, in September 2017 when he was 34.
He came home and went to bed after playing five-a-side football with his brother and never woke up. Despite her efforts using CPR, Seymour was unable to revive him, with the cause of death believed to be a massive cardiac arrest.
Four months later, on her first outing back with St Andrew’s First Aid after losing her son, she was attending a football match when a spectator suffered a cardiac arrest.
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Her training immediately kicked in and she started CPR until the ambulance team arrived. Seymour, who will feature in a series of radio and TV commercials, said: “Although it was really hard, it was almost cathartic to be involved in saving someone’s life during my first event back.
“St Andrew’s First Aid is a vital part of our history and it’s so important to make sure it is a part of our future too. We all have the potential to be a life saver, so I’m asking the people of Scotland to support this campaign.”
Since its establishment in 1882, the charity’s volunteers have tended to casualties and saved lives at football matches, music events and community gatherings. They have been involved in major incidents, from the Ibrox disaster in 1971 to the Glasgow bin lorry crash in 2014.
Chief executive Stuart Callison said: “The pandemic has delivered us a brutal blow. With no events taking place or training courses to deliver, our income dried up overnight. Without our volunteers on site, there could be no football matches, music concerts or community gatherings and our favourite food and drink festivals would be drastically restricted in size. I hope that the people of Scotland will get behind us.”
Those interested in donating can text SAFA to 70660 to donate £10 or go to www.firstaid.org.uk/donate
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