Learning first aid skills with St John Ambulance Cymru helped Cassie save her six-year-old son’s life. Gifting a donation to the charity this Christmas will help to make a lifesaving impact on more families and communities across the country.
On the 15th June 2022, Cassie and her family’s lives changed forever. Cassie saved her son’s life following a serious road accident, using the vital first aid skills she had learnt volunteering with St John Ambulance Cymru.
Cassie was taking her children to visit their grandmother when the accident took place. Her son Charlie was just six years old at the time, and her daughter Evangeline was fifteen. Cassie had joined St John Ambulance Cymru as a volunteer due to Evangeline’s enthusiasm for the Badger and Cadet programmes growing up, and the pair loved socialising and learning new skills with fellow volunteers.
On the day of the accident, Evangeline was accompanied by her friend and fellow Cadet Cadence. Cassie, Evangeline and Cadence had varied levels of first aid training between them, with Cassie completing more senior training courses, including a Catastrophic Haemorrhage training session just a week prior to the accident.
When Charlie was hurt, Cassie, Evangeline and Cadence showed unimaginable bravery. Cassie used the skills she had learnt at her most recent training session to save her little boy’s life, applying a tourniquet and instructing her daughter to call an ambulance.
An air ambulance transported Cassie and Charlie to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where a team of doctors and surgeons were waiting for him. Charlie had been through a serious trauma and underwent extensive surgery in hospital. Cassie recalled, “One doctor had been informed by more than one person that evening that Charlie’s own family were the reason he was still alive.
“Because of our actions, Charlie had made it this far and the doctor believed that because we had remained calm, had treated the injuries and continually reassured Charlie, we had instilled in him a strong will to survive.”
Charlie’s road to recovery has been gruelling, but despite the trauma he has faced at such a young age, today he smiles, laughs and plays. “He is my superhero,” Cassie said. With the help of orthopaedic shoes, a walking frame, or his crutches, Charlie has learnt to adapt to his new body and the way in which it works.
“I find it hard to put into words just how much first aid and St John Ambulance Cymru means to me” Cassie added. “They are the difference between life and death.”
“My training meant that I had the skills to deliver first aid, the confidence to assess the situation and ultimately save my son’s life.”
“I will never be able to thank each and every one of my trainers and fellow volunteers over the three years prior to the accident enough, because together, they gave me a confidence I didn’t have before, an enthusiasm and passion for learning and an overwhelming desire to help others in their time of need.”
First aid training saves lives. With the public’s generous donations, St John Ambulance Cymru can continue to train people in these invaluable skills, support their committed volunteers and run their incredible youth programmes for young people, making Wales a safer place for all.
To support the first aid charity for Wales this Christmas, please visit https://www.sjacymru.org.uk/christmas-appeal.
Cassie and her son, Charlie.
Helpwch i greu mwy o achubwyr bywyd fel Cassie trwy gyfrannu at St John Ambulance Cymru'r Nadolig hwn
Fe wnaeth dysgu sgiliau cymorth cyntaf gydag St John Ambulance Cymru helpu Cassie i achub bywyd ei mab chwe blwydd oed. Bydd rhoi rhodd i’r elusen y Nadolig hwn yn helpu i wneud effaith achub bywyd ar fwy o deuluoedd a chymunedau ledled y wlad.
Ar 15 Mehefin 2022, newidiodd bywydau Cassie a'i theulu am byth. Achubodd Cassie fywyd ei mab yn dilyn damwain ffordd ddifrifol, gan ddefnyddio’r sgiliau cymorth cyntaf hanfodol yr oedd wedi’u dysgu wrth wirfoddoli gydag St John Ambulance Cymru.
Roedd Cassie yn mynd â'i phlant i ymweld â'u mamgu pan ddigwyddodd y ddamwain. Dim ond chwe blwydd oed oedd ei mab Charlie ar y pryd, ac roedd ei merch Evangeline yn bymtheg oed. Roedd Cassie wedi ymuno ag Ambiwlans Sant Ioan Cymru fel gwirfoddolwr oherwydd brwdfrydedd Evangeline dros y rhaglenni 'Badgers' a Chadetiaid, ac roedd y pâr wrth eu bodd yn cymdeithasu a dysgu sgiliau newydd gyda’u cyd-wirfoddolwyr.
Ar ddiwrnod y ddamwain, roedd Evangeline yng nghwmni ei ffrind Cadence, a oedd hefyd yn Gadet. Roedd gan Cassie, Evangeline a Cadence lefelau amrywiol o hyfforddiant cymorth cyntaf rhyngddynt, gyda Cassie yn cwblhau cyrsiau hyfforddi uwch, gan gynnwys sesiwn hyfforddi Gwaedlif Trychinebus wythnos cyn y ddamwain.
Pan anafwyd Charlie, dangosodd Cassie, Evangeline a Cadence ddewrder annirnadwy. Defnyddiodd Cassie y sgiliau yr oedd wedi’u dysgu yn ei sesiwn hyfforddi ddiweddaraf i achub bywyd ei bachgen bach, gan roi rhwymyn tynhau ar waith a dweud wrth ei merch i alw ambiwlans.
Fe wnaeth ambiwlans awyr gludo Cassie a Charlie i Ysbyty Plant Alder Hey yn Lerpwl, lle'r oedd tîm o feddygon a llawfeddygon yn aros amdano. Roedd Charlie wedi dioddef trawma difrifol a chafodd lawdriniaeth helaeth yn yr ysbyty. Dywedodd Cassie: “Roedd un meddyg wedi clywed gan fwy nag un person y noson honno mai teulu Charlie oedd y rheswm ei fod yn dal yn fyw.
“Oherwydd ein gweithredoedd, roedd Charlie wedi dod mor bell â hyn ac roedd y meddyg yn credu oherwydd ein bod wedi aros yn ddigynnwrf, wedi trin yr anafiadau ac wedi tawelu meddwl Charlie yn barhaus, ein bod wedi sefydlu penderfyniad ynddo i oroesi.”
Mae taith Charlie i adferiad wedi bod yn un anodd, ond er gwaethaf y trawma y mae wedi’i wynebu mor ifanc, heddiw mae’n gwenu, yn chwerthin ac yn chwarae. “Fe yw fy archarwr,” meddai Cassie. Gyda chymorth esgidiau orthopedig, ffrâm gerdded, neu ei faglau, mae Charlie wedi dysgu addasu i'w gorff newydd a'r ffordd y mae'n gweithio.
“Mae'n anodd dweud mewn geiriau faint mae cymorth cyntaf ac St John Ambulance Cymru yn eu golygu i mi” ychwanegodd Cassie. “Nhw yw'r gwahaniaeth rhwng bywyd a marwolaeth.”
“Roedd fy hyfforddiant yn golygu bod gen i’r sgiliau i ddarparu cymorth cyntaf, yr hyder i asesu’r sefyllfa ac yn y pen draw, achub bywyd fy mab.”
Ni fyddaf byth yn gallu diolch digon i bob un o’m hyfforddwyr a’m cyd-wirfoddolwyr dros y tair blynedd cyn y ddamwain, oherwydd gyda’i gilydd, fe wnaethant roi hyder i mi nad oedd gennyf o’r blaen, brwdfrydedd ac angerdd am ddysgu, yn ogystal ag awydd aruthrol i helpu pobl eraill pan fo'r angen fwyaf.”
Mae hyfforddiant cymorth cyntaf yn achub bywydau. Gyda rhoddion hael gan aelodau o'r cyhoedd, gall St John Ambulance Cymru barhau i hyfforddi pobl yn y sgiliau amhrisiadwy hyn, cefnogi eu gwirfoddolwyr ymroddedig a rhedeg eu rhaglenni ieuenctid anhygoel i bobl ifanc, gan wneud Cymru yn lle mwy diogel i bawb.
I gefnogi elusen cymorth cyntaf Cymru'r Nadolig hwn, ewch i https://www.sjacymru.org.uk/christmas-appeal.
