Gloucester officers are reunited with young girl whose life they saved

Last month a number of officers in Gloucester were first on the scene to help a 13-year-old girl whose heart had stopped beating.

She had a medical episode in Eastgate Street on Tuesday 22 February while on her way to a party for under 18s with her friends.

Officers from Gloucester's Neighbourhood policing team were quick to offer medical help while the ambulance was on its way.

They provided vital CPR and use of a defibrillator on Nicole to restart her heart.

On Friday (18 March) the officers and Nicole reunited, and Nicole and her Mum was able to say a big thank you in person to the officers who helped save her life on 22 February.

Kate, Nicole's Mum said: "Nicole is a 13-year-old girl who started to have seizures at 11 years old, this was put down to possibly epilepsy. 

"Nicole was going to an under 18s party in Gloucester with her friends and she was really happy. At around 7.15pm I had a phone call to say Nicole was feeling dizzy and then went into a seizure. I made my way there and when I got there my daughter was on the floor being given CPR by police officers.

"Because Nicole had gone into cardiac arrest it felt like hours she was there on the floor.

"Nicole was then taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where she was put on a ventilator and was then taken to Bristol Children's hospital. They found out Nicole has an underlying heart condition and has now had a defibrillator fitted in her heart to hopefully stop this ever happening again.

"On Friday 25 February Nicole was woken up in hospital and is now doing really well.

"I want to say thank you to all the police officers involved - because of the amazing job they did my daughter is here. She is doing amazing, although she has a long road ahead. We both want to say a huge thank you to the officers and to everyone who has wished Nicole well."

PCSO Adam Stevens, one of the officers who assisted Nicole said: "Working in police often means you never know what you will be dealing with next, no matter how long you have been doing the job you can never be prepared for the situation we found ourselves dealing with that night. 

"Myself and PC Parker were on foot patrol along Eastgate Street when we were alerted to an unconscious girl further down the street. We attended and soon realised that she wasn’t breathing.

"Thankfully our training kicked in and myself and PC Parker started CPR. We were swiftly backed up by Sergeant Francis and between us we took turns to do CPR while an ambulance was called and a defibrillator was brought to the location.

"Thankfully our colleagues from the ambulance service were quickly on the scene and were able to take over the care of Nicole.

"I’ve been overwhelmed to hear about Nicole’s swift recovery and I am glad we were in the right place at the right time and could do our bit to help."

Those included in the photograph from left to right: PC Richard Parker, PCSO Adam Stevens, Nicole, her friend, Sergeant Tom Francis.