Date: 22nd December, 2022
A man whose life was saved by Malmesbury firefighters last month has been to the fire station to thank them.
Ray Gilson, 75, had been at the town’s football club on 7 November for a skittle match when he collapsed, banging his head on a pool table as he fell.
The fire crew were on station for their weekly drill night when a member of the public came in and asked for help. A team of six immediately went to the clubhouse and found Ray to be not breathing and unresponsive.
After starting CPR and using their defibrillator to administer four shocks, the crew successfully restarted Ray’s heart and, by the time South Western Ambulance Service took him to hospital, he was conscious and starting to respond to the crew.
After 10 days at Bristol Heart Institute, Ray was able to return to his home in Sutton Benger and is now making a good recovery.
On Monday (19 December), Ray visited Malmesbury fire station to give his personal thanks to Watch Manager Chris Harvey, Crew Manager Jamie Johnstone, and Firefighters Bret Gardiner, Alex Hughes, Neil Risby and Jae Wright.
Mr Gilson said: “The fire service saved my life. I know how lucky I was that they were at the station that evening doing training. I wouldn’t have been here if they weren’t there that night.”
Group Manager Jim Weston, who manages the fire stations in Wiltshire, said: “I am extremely proud of the team at Malmesbury for their professionalism and skill at this incident, which resulted in a life being saved. If anyone in the local community is interested in becoming an on-call firefighter, we are recruiting, so please get in touch!”
When the pager goes off, an on-call firefighter can be called to a wide range of incidents, such as fires, road traffic collisions, rescues from height or water, animal rescue or flooding. In addition, Malmesbury is a co-responder station, where firefighters can opt to support the ambulance service by attending medical emergencies ahead of a paramedic arriving.
If you want to support your community, learn new skills and earn additional income, please visit www.dwfire.org.uk/on-call-firefighters, email [email protected] or leave a message on the 24-hour recruitment line, 01722 691444.