Lauren’s father, Mick Askham, remembered: “The two young men had obviously been injured in some sort of attack or street fight. Since the police weren't carrying any first aid gear, they were grateful when Lauren and I stopped to help.”
Emergency support
The father-daughter team immediately stepped into action, Lauren getting medical equipment from the car while her dad assessed the casualties. She said: “This was my first incident and I kept thinking to myself: just stay calm. I was fine, though – all the things I’d learned during first aid training came back to me so I knew what to do.”
She explained: “One lad had been hit hard over the head with a cricket stump – his head was split open and he kept slipping in and out of consciousness. The other had been stabbed near the top of his leg and was bleeding badly.
“My dad went straight over to treat the lad with the head injury, talking to him all the while to try and keep him awake. Meanwhile, I then joined a police officer to treat the other man’s knife injury, while dad shouted over instructions and told us what to do.”
Knife wound
Mick added: “The man Lauren and the police officer helped had a nasty knife wound close to the femoral artery in his leg, so they applied direct pressure and placed a pad over the wound. They also treated the guy for shock while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.”
After five minutes, things took a sharp turn for the worse when large gangs of young men returned to the scene and continued their altercation with the police just ten yards away from the first aiders.
Lauren recalled: “They started shouting and threatening each other right next to us – it was really intimidating. You think: ‘Am I in danger here?’ But we just carried on helping the casualties – with all this trouble going on around us – until the ambulances arrived.
Courageous support
Having managed to keep her cool, the impact of the incident only came later. The young first aider recalled: “Afterwards, all the shock seem to come at once and I felt quite shaken up for a little bit, but then I was fine. Looking back, I’m very pleased that we got involved and helped.”
Mick added: “Lauren showed fantastic nerve for a 17-year-old with only basic first aid skills. There's no doubt that her and the police officer’s actions – stemming the casualty’s bleeding and keeping him still – helped the guy before the ambulance arrived.”
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