Sarish Rizwan has been attending the Flourish program on and off for the past two years, she is from Pakistan and has two sons. She has given permission to speak about her personal story that has helped her save two peoples life since doing the First Aid course, which was organised by staff in the DIWC Flourish group.

Learning valuable life-saving skills to put into practice

The first time was when Sarish had gone to Pakistan to visit family there was an incident where her uncle started to have chest pains and breathing difficulty. Sarish said she immediately remembered what she had learned and how to recognise if someone was having symptoms of a heart attack. She called for an ambulance and put him in the recovery position. As her uncle’s condition worsened, she was able to carry out CPR which was vital, until the paramedics came, after which they took over. Thanks to her quick thinking and remembering the training she had received, her uncle is alive and so grateful to Sarish.

Another time was when Sarish was feeding her baby he choked on a pea and was having difficulty breathing. She performed the Heimlich manoeuvre and CPR, which saved her baby’s life.

Sarish says: “I am so grateful to DIWC and Flourish for delivering the First Aid workshop, without it, the outcome might have been very devastating. I am now able to perform emergency first aid until help arrives if needed, which makes me feel, that I have learnt a very valuable skill which could save lives. Thank you Flourish”

To find out more about the Flourish classes, click here.