Former Coronation Street and Hollyoaks star Nikki Sanderson has revealed she helped save her mum's life with CPR, as the pair join a St John Ambulance campaign urging men not to hesitate when delivering life-saving care to women whose hearts have stopped beating.
The actress performed the emergency procedure for the first time when her mother, Jude, suffered two cardiac arrests in November 2021. An emergency services call handler guided Nikki and her brother, James, through the life-saving measures. The prompt arrival of paramedics, along with the CPR, saved Jude's life.
Campaign warns hesitation 'costing lives'
The family is now supporting St John Ambulance's new campaign, warning that hesitation is "costing lives". A survey of UK adults by Censuswide for the charity found three in 10 men would hesitate over fears of being accused of inappropriate touching, and 20% said they would be concerned someone might film it.
Around 40,000 cardiac arrests occur each year in UK communities, and the estimated survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests is less than one in 10, St John Ambulance said.
Jude urges: 'Just forget everything and do it'
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (October 15), Jude told hosts Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway: "I was at home and I had the sense to ring my children because I knew there was something not quite right. So I was very lucky."
Nikki, known for playing Maxine Minniver in Hollyoaks and Candice Stowe in Corrie, said: "It was extremely traumatic and for the first few years, I have to say, I did find it very difficult to be able to talk about it just because it's my mum and my brother and I are so close with my mum. We're a lovely little unit, but it was horrific for us. My brother was just fantastic. It's also strenuous to be able to do CPR and if you're doing it if you're doing it correctly, it is it's hard. But you just don't stop."
Jude added: "It is important. You've only got a certain time limit, and the CPR is what kept the oxygen flowing around my brain, which is why I can speak now... They said I would be brain-damaged if I survived. But then when they heard that the children had done the CPR, that's the reason the oxygen kept going."
Speaking of the campaign, Jude said: "As a woman, if it happens, please, that person, it isn't just a woman. That's somebody who desperately wants you to save their life. Just forget everything about that and do it. I know from my point of view, if I'd been out on the street, I would hope that somebody, I wouldn't care who it was, please save my life."
