The Power of Knowing What to Do: Erin’s Story
One training session. One unexpected emergency.
In 2024, Erin Bradbeer attended a free CPR and defibrillator training session organised by Heartstart Malvern for members of Hanley Castle and Upton Cricket Club.
She had no idea just how important that training would become.
This is Erin’s story and a powerful reminder of why learning CPR matters.
A training session that made all the difference
During the winter of 2023, Erin helped organise a Heartstart training session for her local cricket club, Hanley Castle and Upton Cricket Club.
Around 15 people attended, including Erin, her husband and daughter, alongside a good mix of club members, from junior players to some of the club’s more senior members.
The aim was to empower everyone to learn essential lifesaving skills in a supportive, practical setting.
It was a great opportunity for younger club members to learn skills that could one day make a real difference. Erin already had some first aid training through her work at a local high school, so she saw the session as a valuable refresher, too.
At the time, she had no idea just how soon she would need to put that knowledge into practice.
An ordinary day takes an unexpected turn
The following October, while visiting London with her husband and daughter, Erin was sitting in the lobby of a shared office space in central London.
Suddenly, people came running from one of the meeting rooms, asking whether anyone had any medical training. One of their colleagues, a woman in her thirties, had collapsed during a meeting.
Although there were people nearby, nobody immediately came forward to help. Erin and her husband knew they needed to act.
Inside the room, they found the woman rigid and sliding out of her chair. Initially, it looked as though she might be having a seizure, but Erin’s training helped her focus on what mattered most: checking whether the woman was responsive, breathing and getting emergency help.
Erin called out to the woman and gently shook her shoulders, but there was no response. She quickly realised the woman was not breathing normally.
Erin told her husband to call 999. Remembering his training, he communicated the essential details: that the woman was unresponsive, their location and that his wife was performing CPR. He also went to find a defibrillator.
Meanwhile, Erin asked others to move the chairs and clear some space so the woman could be laid flat on the floor. There was no time to stand back and wait for someone else to take charge.
Erin knew the woman needed urgent help, and she had the skills to begin giving it.
Putting her CPR training into practice
Erin began CPR and continued performing chest compressions, determined to give the woman the best possible chance of survival.
As she continued, Erin noticed that the woman’s lips, which had appeared blue, were beginning to look pinker. It was a moment that stayed with her as she concentrated on helping the woman.
The situation felt surreal. Moments earlier, Erin had been sitting in an ordinary office lobby with her husband. Now, she was trying to save a young woman’s life.
While Erin continued CPR, her husband found a defibrillator at reception and brought it upstairs to the meeting room.
Thankfully, two off-duty paramedics were nearby and arrived at the scene.[EB2] They took over CPR from Erin and used the defibrillator to deliver several shocks while waiting for the ambulance service to arrive.
The emergency response continued until the woman was taken to hospital. Erin later learned that the woman’s heart had been restarted.
For Erin, the experience was extraordinary. She found herself in a situation where every second mattered, and she was able to act using the knowledge and practical skills she had gained during the Heartstart training session.
Afterwards, she reflected on what had happened and how differently things might have been if nobody had known what to do.
What happened to the lady
Nearly two years later, watching a television programme about the Restart a Heart campaign reminded Erin of that surreal day.
She began thinking again about the woman she had helped and wondered what had happened to her. Erin wanted to know whether she had survived, but she also wanted the woman and her family to know that, when it really mattered, people had cared and done everything they could to help.
Erin knew how serious the situation had been. She hoped the woman had survived, but had no way of knowing what had happened after she was taken to hospital.
Then, nearly two years after the emergency, Erin received the news she had been hoping for.The woman was alive and well.
Erin was overwhelmed.
After carrying the memory of that day for so long, finally knowing that the woman had survived meant an enormous amount to her. She wanted to share the news with Heartstart Malvern so others could understand the difference learning CPR can make.
Why learning CPR matters
Looking back, Erin believes the Heartstart training was absolutely critical in helping her respond.
The training gave her the confidence to act and a clear understanding of what needed to happen. Checking whether the woman was responsive, recognising that she was not breathing normally, calling for help and starting CPR were all actions Erin was able to take when they mattered most.
She also saw how important it was for people to work together. Her husband knew how to communicate the emergency to 999, other bystanders helped clear the space, and a defibrillator was brought to the scene. When the off-duty paramedics arrived, they were able to take over and continue the emergency response.
Everyone had a part to play, but Erin started the essential CPR and continued until the paramedics arrived.
She knows this could have been a very different story if nobody had known what to do.
“Learning CPR is like wearing a seatbelt. You hope you’ll never need it, but you never know what might happen. Being prepared means you have the knowledge and confidence to make a difference when you really need it.”
For Erin, the message is simple: learning CPR gives you the ability to try to save someone’s life.
And you never know when you might need those skills.
One hour of training could make a lifetime of difference
Heartstart Malvern provides free CPR and defibrillator training to people across the local community, helping residents, businesses, schools and community groups learn how to respond when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.
Erin’s experience shows why this work matters. What began as a training session organised for a local cricket club gave her knowledge and confidence she could draw upon in a real-life emergency.
Her story is a powerful reminder that you don’t need to be a medical professional to help someone in their moment of greatest need. Learning what to do, recognising an emergency and having the confidence to act can make a vital difference.
As Erin puts it:
“An hour of training for a lifetime of knowing what to do in an emergency situation, and not the alternative of regretting it and not knowing what to do.”
Heartstart Malvern wants more people in the community to have that knowledge and confidence. We aim to train 10,000 local people by the end of 2027.
Could you be the person who makes a difference?
Book a free CPR and defibrillator training session with Heartstart Malvern and learn the skills that could help save a life.
[EB1]I only change this because I was so surprised at how rigid she was. I didn’t expect that.
Comments