The Priory For Wales of The Most Venerable Order of The Hospital of St John of Jerusalem

Registered Charity Number: 250523
Cardiff

9-year-old commended for saving brother

Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013

A number of life saving St John Cymru Wales volunteers will be commended at a special ceremony this weekend.

Among them will be nine-year-old James Reed from Mountain Ash, a youth volunteer for  St John Wales, who saved his younger brother’s life when he was choking on a sandwich.

James has been a member of the Badgers group at the Hirwaun division of St John for around a year, but his Mum Zara didn’t realise that his hobby would ever be put into practice on a family member.

Zara said, “It was a usual Tuesday afternoon late last year, three-year-old Harri and I had picked up James from school and popped round to my Mum’s house, where she’d made sandwiches for them both.

“The boys were sat in the living room eating while my Mum and I had a cuppa in the next room. Suddenly I heard James shout, “Mum, Mum, Harri’s choking!” I ran in to see Harri was red in the face and starting to turn blue.

“James had already begun giving Harri first aid and after three strong back blows the food flew out and Harri was able to catch his breath.

“Harri was a bit shaken after the incident, but James took it all in his stride.”

Only the night before, James’ Badger meeting had joined the older Cadet volunteers and learnt how to deal with a choking casualty.

Zara said, “I’m so grateful that James had been shown the skills needed to save a life. If he hadn’t have been there the outcome could have been very different. I am really proud of him and will be especially pleased to see him commended at the service in Cardiff on 22 June.”

Keith Dunn, Chief Executive of St John Wales, said, “I’m delighted to hear how James was able to help his brother. James and Harri’s experience shows that knowing what to do in the first minutes of an emergency situation could dramatically increase your chance of survival. Our aim is to have a first aider on every street in Wales and this case shows you are never too young to learn these vital life skills.”