'My son had to use his CPR training on me'

Will gave first aid to his dad Mark after he had a suspected seizure

A father has urged more young people to learn first aid after his teenage sons came to his aid when he suffered a serious medical emergency.

Mark, 49, was at home in Oakham, Rutland, in September last year when he suffered a suspected seizure and fell down the stairs.

It prompted Will and Oliver, who had learned first aid at their Army cadet unit, to leap into action, with Will administering CPR while Oliver called 999.

Their father has since made a full recovery and believes his sons may have saved his life.

Will and Mark have shared their story in the hope of inspiring other people to sign up for first aid training.

Will learned first aid skills as an Army cadet

Will remembers after dinner, his dad went upstairs and he and his brother heard "a huge crash and a tumble down the stairs".

When they discovered their dad unresponsive on the floor, the brothers took action.

Will said: "I checked for his pulse and then got my brother to call the ambulance and knock on the neighbour's [door] as well.

"I put him in the recovery position and tilted his head back to open his airway, straightened out his arms and legs and did 30 compressions."

Mark is "incredibly proud" of his two sons and their actions to save him

Mark has been a professional accountant for most of his career and while doctors have not been able to find a reason for the seizure, he believes stress could have been a factor.

He spent a night in hospital and was discharged the following day.

Paying tribute to his sons, who were 16 and 14 at the time, he said: "I'm massively proud of them. They could have panicked or struggled with the situation but they both almost went into autopilot mode."

He said he would like to see more people learning first aid.

"You could be walking down the road one day and something happens and you've got some skills and you can help," he said.

Will is applying to join the Army after enjoying his time as a cadet

Will said he and his brother both learned how to carry out CPR and other first aid skills as members of the Oakham Army Cadet unit.

"I would definitely say take a course in it because it could easily save someone's life and it's a really useful skill to have," he said.

St John Ambulance is one of the organisations that helps to train members of the public in first aid.

The charity says CPR - short for cardiopulmonary resuscitation - combines chest compressions and rescue breaths to give a person the best chance of survival following a cardiac arrest.

The advice is that if an adult is unresponsive and not breathing normally, you should call 999 or 112 for emergency help and start CPR straight away.

Will is now in the process of applying to join the Army and hopes to train at Harrogate before going on to become a Royal Engineer.

Meanwhile, his father has been completely fine since the emergency, with doctors undertaking a number of tests and finding no health problems.

He said the incident had led to him doing "lots of reflecting and looking at what's important and what's not important".

"Making memories and spending time with the boys, having a laugh, having a bit of fun and making the most of the time we've got," he said.