Retired cop thought someone ‘broke’ into his home after seeing strange footprints—his quick investigation saved a life
Our instincts and actions combined can be powerful. Being vigilant and astute is necessary and for people who serve as first responders, this comes as a habit. A retired police officer, Jason Redrup, was not new to emergencies and life-saving encounters. However, nothing could have prepared him for what he experienced at his home one day, as per BBC News. Redrup got home and spotted footprints on the ground. His first instinct was that there was an intruder. However, when he proceeded skillfully and cautiously, he realized it was someone in need of life-saving help. The man noted that he was supposed to be at work at the time, but was home coincidentally.
When he noticed the footprints, he got suspicious. “I thought someone had come to break into the house,” he recalled. When he went to check, he found a man collapsed in his backyard. To his surprise, it was one of his friends, Nick Williams. The man had come in via the backyard for some work but suffered a cardiac arrest and fell to the ground. Redrup stepped into action immediately. “I'm a retired police officer. So I did CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training annually,” he recounted. He also mentioned almost going into “auto mode” to check for a pulse and breathing as he would on his job.
Redrup performed CPR for 10 minutes and also dialed the emergency services. “By the time everyone arrived—the fast response car, ambulance and air ambulance, there were about nine people in the garden and there was a lot of equipment and debris afterward,” the retired officer noted. However, soon after Williams was escorted via the ambulance, Redrup went back to work like any other day. He explained, “Having previously been a police officer, I've dealt with different types of trauma. But when I phoned my wife and told her what happened, you could almost hear the phone drop at her end. It takes a while to process it and in the evening, I realized what had happened.”
The retired officer acknowledged that the situation was a traumatic one. Seeing his own friend fighting life and death was baffling but Redrup didn’t hesitate to put his fine skills to work and administer the CPR. Looking back, it's the only response that makes a difference. “If someone's heart is not beating and you can't get it beating again, what harm can you do? If you're doing it right then you're probably going to break some ribs, but I think they'd probably thank you for that if they carried on living,” he remarked.
British Heart Foundation Cymru head, Rhodri Thomas explained, “Eight out of 10 cardiac arrests happen in the home, so the chances are if you learn that skill, it will be performed on a loved one.” The association also urges people to take a 15-minute online session titled “RevivR” to learn the basic skill that can become a life-saving one in time of need. Another worker, Corey Domachowski, remarked, “It's a high-pressure moment, I'd imagine. I've never been in the position to have to react to that and hopefully never will, but I think it's important for everyone to know CPR and hopefully save people's lives.”