A PUB-GOER who collapsed and stopped breathing during an evening out with friends has been reunited with the women who saved her life.
Rona Ames was at the beer festival at the White Hart Pub, in Stanley, when she began to feel unwell and left her group to go to the toilets.
But, minutes later, it was discovered the 59-year-old had collapsed and landlady Simona Cameron was alerted.
She noticed Rona, of Stanley, had stopped breathing and Simona, who started trying to resuscitate her, asked if anyone else knew first aid.
She was joined by customer Sue Adams and the pair managed to get Rona to breathe again.
Simona, 46, who runs the pub with husband George, received first-aid training while working for the Hilton Hotels Group in Romania for 12 years.
She said: "It seemed like forever but, when Rona gasped for breath, the relief was unbelievable. Our first- aid training instinctively kicked in but, when it's someone you know well, it makes it much harder.
"We knew that we had to do whatever we could to save Rona."
Rona then started having seizures but paramedics from East Midlands Ambulance Service arrived and took her to hospital.
She has since recovered from the incident, which happened last August. It is not known what caused her ill-health.
Rona, who said she had very little recollection of the incident, said: "Words can't express how I feel about what they did for me.
"Without them, I wouldn't be here today. I will be eternally grateful to them – they are like my angels."
A teaching assistant at Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy, in Kirk Hallam, Sue, 52, of Ilkeston, first received first-aid training with charity St John Ambulance when she was at school.
She did a refresher training at the Derby Trinity Street training centre last March.
Sue said: "I felt very proud that I had been able to help save a life. It's one of those things you don't ever expect to happen but, when you are in that situation, the first-aid training we had was vital."
The Derby Telegraph has highlighted Rona's story as part of our award-winning Save a Life campaign to turn you into a lifesaver. We have teamed up with St John to offer our readers a discount on first-aid training.
John Cavanagh, regional director of St John Ambulance's commercial training division in the Midlands, said: "It's great to hear that Sue's workplace first-aid training gave her the knowledge and confidence to know what to do. We hope many others will do the same."
