ON December 22 while out celebrating my birthday at the Hare and Hounds pub in Hopton my husband, James, who is 39, began to choke.
We managed to get outside and for a few seconds we thought he was messing about but soon realised he wasn’t.
As a trained first aider myself I knew what to do but things became serious pretty quickly and after several attempts at the Heimlich Manoeuvre and a number of slaps to the back we realised he was struggling to breathe.
He keeled over and became unconscious.
An ambulance was called and two first aiders, a barman and restaurant manager from the pub, came to help.
A nurse, who was probably on a Christmas do, also appeared.
Her reassuring voice kept me focussed and calm and as James was unconscious she made sure he was in the recovery position and kept checking his breathing and pulse until the paramedic arrived.
As the paramedic arrived James began coughing and started to come round.
He was able to talk and was confused about what had happened.
The ambulance then arrived and he went to A&E to be checked out. Apart from having a very sore back and ribs and throat he was given the all clear.
I managed to get the names of the two ladies who were first aiders and the staff from the pub and I will therefore be able to thank them personally but the nurse disappeared as quickly as she had appeared and I didn’t manage to get her name.
So, if you are the nurse or know who she is please could you pass on our heartfelt thanks to her.
If you would like to contact us through the Examiner that would be great but we understand if you would rather remain anonymous.
James has no recollection of what happened but I have no doubt that if it wasn’t for the people who came to help the outcome of this story would have been very different.
I would certainly say to anyone reading this who does not have any first aid training please put it on your list of things to do in the New Year as you just never know when you might need it.
Liz Robinson
Huddersfield
Proud to be English
STEPHEN Dorril makes a personal attack on my character when he states that I am deeply reactionary, a Little Englander, Tory right wing with an out of date vision.
This comes from a gentleman who has no idea as to who I am, my ideals and my beliefs.
Yes, I truly love this town and country and at the same time I do not love what they have both become. Is this wrong? Surely I am allowed to have those thoughts and express my views?
Mr Dorril, I will not blindly follow anyone’s ideals without having the truth given to me and where those ideals are meant to take us.
As for my political bent, it really is none of your business.
Rightly or wrongly I can only assume that Stephen Dorril is a left wing reactionary if my views on renewable energy and global warming have so rattled him.
Take a look around you to see what Labour has done for our country? Can anyone explain where they intended to take our country? Would you, Mr Dorril, vote for a party which blindly took the people on a mystery tour? Many did. Why should I be ashamed of being English?
You make being proud of my country outdated and out of touch with England and the UK. I was born in England, I am English and I am not ashamed of that.
Mr Dorril, your vote your choice. My vote is my choice – so far at least.
You do seem to have a love of Germany. Please take a look at the league table for polluters.
In 2009 the UK was 10th and Germany was 6th. The UK had a drop of 7.8% and Germany 7% in carbon dioxide levels while China had an increase in carbon dioxide levels of 13.3%.
R J Bray
Shelley
Saga should end
THE Castle Hill saga should have ended when the Thandi Brothers first breached the planning permission they had been given for alterations to their public house.
One benefit of the long-running dispute has been that far more local folk know more about Castle Hill than they would otherwise have done.
The Hill and its tower should now be left to its normal visitors, then to historians whose interest has been stimulated by this dispute.
PHILIP CHARLESWORTH
Huddersfield
In praise of posties
I FELT as if I should reply on behalf of all postmen and women in response to Mr Hellawell’s (Examiner, December 31) complaint about his late birthday card.
Does he realise how many millions of letters and parcels etc are delivered every year and what conditions the postal workers have to deliver them in.
My son-in-law is a postman and I have seen him when he has come home frozen to the core in freezing weather, soaked through in all this rain we have had, getting up at 5am and sliding on the ice we had the other week when most people wouldn’t go out of their doors.
He walks miles every day, puts up with dog bites, climbs hills, hundreds of steps and long drives and all for an average wage, no big bonus for them at Christmas. Never complaining and most post people always have a cheery grin.
If you get so cross because one card was late arriving at Christmas time I feel very sorry for you. Maybe you should look at the world around you and find more important things to fume about
Fuming Mother in law
Huddersfield
Gunning for pensioners
SO our deputy PM Nick Clegg is gunning again for the most vulnerable people, the pensioners, with his hypocritical slogan that multi-millionaire pensioners should not have free bus passes.
These people don’t travel on buses, they have posh limousines, like himself, to travel.
He is after ordinary pensioners who, during their long working life, worked very hard for little reward to rebuild this country, people who paid taxes, NH and NP contributions and by denying themselves many things, managed to save a little for their old age. They are now to be penalised for it.
A lot of them lost their partners so are classified as single people and the means testing threshold for them is very low.
In addition, some older people’s legs are not so good and so walking is a problem.
He is forgetting that the pensioners that he is trying to put to the rock bottom of society have the same right to vote as anybody else, and they will remember him and the party he represents at election time.
TONY SOSNA
Huddersfield
