Morning workout turns into Bravery Award
A routine morning swim turned into a lifesaving incident for Louise Joesbury. Louise was completing her regular session at Bayswater Waves with her neighbour John when he told her he wasn’t feeling well. He continued swimming but when Louise returned from a lap she came across John on the floor of the pool.
He had suffered a heart attack, sunk to the bottom and hit his head on the pool floor. Louise immediately dove down and pulled him up to the surface, even though he was twice her size and unconscious. She then carried him from the middle of the pool to the diving blocks, while calling to bystanders for help. She says that as a “police officer for nearly 20 years it was just a natural thing” to respond.
Louise held John against the diving block until two lifeguards came to their aid. With the help of another pool patron, they performed CPR until the ambulance arrived and took him to hospital, where he went on to make a full recovery. She attributed his survival to the timely responses of the all first aiders involved.
This incident occurred in 2007, and while the lifeguards received Bravery Awards at the time, Louise did not. We’re pleased that her involvement has since come to light so that she can be commended for her actions by now being awarded the Gold Medallion Bravery Award.
Louise thinks CPR is a valuable skill as do we. Make sure you can play an active role in lifesaving incidents by signing up for one of our resuscitation courses available at the link below.
