Cricketer uses first aid training to save opponent’s life during match
A cricketer was able to use his first aid skills to save a life when one of his teenage opponents was hit with a ball during a cricket match and his heart stopped.
David Tungate, 17, was batting when a fast ball hit him just below the ribs, causing him to collapse on the field. According to onlookers, who originally thought he was only winded, he was struggling to breathe, went pale and then stopped breathing altogether.
Some attempts at resuscitation were made, but it wasn’t until 18-year-old Jamie Bristow-Diamond stepped in to help that David started to come round. Jamie, who had had first aid training in the past, described what happened:
“I saw some resuscitation attempts going badly and just decided to try CPR, chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth. Practising on a dummy is nowhere near the real thing.
“At one point I felt him stop breathing. People around me began to say he had stopped but I just carried on and eventually he came back.”
David was airlifted to a specialist cardiac unit in Ashford, Kent, were he was last reported conscious. He will now undergo tests for heart conditions such as arrhythmia, as it was found that the ball strike had disrupted his heartbeat.