Teenager honoured for saving grandad with CPR

Alfie Furlong, 19, saved his grandad's life with CPR

A teenager honoured after saving the life of his grandad when he went into cardiac arrest has been recalling the events that led to the award.

Alfie Furlong, 19, from Stafford, performed CPR on his grandad John, who fell unconscious while they were driving back from a Wolverhampton Wanderers game.

His grandad survived the ordeal and spent a couple of months recovering in hospital.

As a result of his actions, Mr Furlong was named CPR Hero of the Year by the British Heart Foundation.

Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke, Mr Furlong said he was driving home along a dual carriageway when he noticed his grandad was unconscious in the passenger seat.

"Straight away I just started to panic. At first I thought he was asleep but when I shook him, he didn't respond at all," he explained.

"That's when I thought 'right, I need to do something here'."

'I feared the worst'

When he pulled over, a woman standing at the side of the road helped him to drag his grandad out the car before she phoned 999.

Mr Furlong, who had done some CPR training in college, started to carry out chest compressions.

He said: "I wanted to make sure he was OK and I just feared the worst really. I just wanted to make sure there was every chance of that not happening."

While he was trying to resuscitate his relative, the woman held her phone close to his ear so the operator could talk him through the CPR.

But Mr Furlong said of his grandad: "He was completely lifeless at that point, he wasn't responding."

Then paramedics arrived and took the patient, in his 60s, to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, where he was put into a coma.

Alfie Furlong was named CPR Hero of the Year by the British Heart Foundation

The patient spent a couple of months at the hospital recovering from his near-death experience.

Mr Furlong said: "He's not the same as he was originally, as he went 20 minutes without oxygen, but he's still here… that's what's most important."

He received the award in London on 6 December after his aunt nominated him.

On the importance of CPR training, Mr Furlong said: "You never know when you're going to need it.

"There might be some people who never need to use it in their lives but... if you are in a situation where it's needed then you can end up saving a life."