Marion’s lifesaving mission!

A first aid tutor who’s dedicated her whole working life to helping others save lives is set to retire.

Marion Westell, a First Aid HR Consultant, began working at the Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in September 1979 as a swimming instructor before deciding to train as a Life Saving Tutor.

In 1982, she became the youngest tutor the Royal Life Saving Society had.

Now, as she prepares to retire from the role she’s loved, she’s reflected on her career of training thousands of people to save lives.

Marion, 61, said:

I’m always hearing stories. People stop me in the street to tell me how my training has helped them to save someone’s life.

Marion recently heard from two of her trainees, Paige Kreft and Sarah Quinn, who had found themselves in situations where someone else’s life was in danger.

Marion said:

Paige was sat in her car outside a Starbucks when a woman got out of the car with a baby. She was panicking because the child wasn’t breathing.

Paige asked the woman to call an ambulance while she placed the baby down on the car seat and began CPR.

She told me that part way through the baby gasped and it looked like she had started breathing, but Paige remembered that this was agonal breathing from my training – when the body spasms in response to cardiac arrest – and she carried on performing CPR.

After a few cycles, the baby began to breathe and opened her eyes. Police and paramedics told Paige she had done a brilliant job and saved the baby’s life. The child was only three weeks old.

Paige was not the only person to have put Marion’s lifesaving training into practice.

Sarah Quinn, Health and Wellbeing Development Manager at Blackburn with Darwen Council, had also taken Marion’s training. She said:

I was driving home from work with my husband when we spotted an older gentleman stumbling down the street. We thought he might have just had a bit to drink, but as we drove past I saw him fall.

I immediately stopped and got out of the car to see if he was okay. I could tell straight away that he wasn’t breathing properly. I tried to wake him with no luck, and so I called 999.

I noticed his agonal gasps and the colour of his skin and knew what I needed to do so I began CPR.

An off-duty police officer arrived some time later, and together we took turns performing CPR until the ambulance arrived.

A few days later I contacted Marion to thank her for all of her training. I was grateful that everything I had been taught just kicked in!

Marion is planning to retire in December.

She added:

I’m only planning to go due to health reasons – this is not the end.

Knowing how to save someone’s life is so important and I want to encourage everyone to learn how – you just never know when you will need it.