Firefighter's life-saving heroics on a plane at 32,000ft

A woman was taken gravely ill during the flight

Daniel, who has chosen not to reveal his surname, was heading back from a family holiday in Portugal on Saturday (September 1) when the drama unfolded on the Ryanair flight.

A fellow passenger, a 72-year-old woman, had fallen ill and her family were unable to get a reaction from her.

Daniel said: “She was gripping the seat tight and looking straight up at the ceiling. I stepped up and heard this lady say ‘I can’t find a pulse, we need to get her out’, as in we need to get her out of her seat and horizontal.

“I grabbed her with my arms around her chest and took her out of her chair and into the aisle and took her to the back of the plane.”

The woman who had taken the pensioner’s pulse, a medical registrar called Sue, told Daniel the patient’s Glasgow Coma Score was just three. He explained: “This means she was not responsive in any way, she had no pulse, was not communicating and there was no other response from her. She was as good as not with us.”

With the help of a second doctor, Daniel and Sue administered oxygen, carried out CPR and used a defibrillator before the woman finally came back round.

In the 40 minutes before the plane landed in Luton, the woman’s condition greatly improved. She was taken to hospital shortly after the plane landed.

It is believed the woman had suffered a small bleed on the brain, which the doctor said could be an indicator of a future, more serious problem. Daniel said: “It could have saved her life.”

Daniel was a special constable with Kent Police for six years before joining East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service three years ago at the age of 40.

Although he has seen many serious incidents over the years, it is the first time Daniel’s life-saving skills have been called upon at 32,000 feet.

He said: “There’s a moment after any incident with a ‘positive outcome’ as a firefighter where you do just pause and think ‘I’m glad that went as well as it did’.

“I cannot pretend I did not climb into bed that night and think how different it could have been if the doctors were not on that flight.”