First Aid skills that saved baby puts mum in line for award

Rochelle Goddard (29) noticed ten-month-old son Jay shivering after a bedtime bath, even though he felt warm to the touch and started to go limp.

Remembering a St John demo about seizures in babies, she knew it was vital to reduce Jay’s temperature.

Rochelle and wife Shelley stripped him down, gave him sips of water and took him to A&E, where his temperature was still over 40 deg C.

But he was allowed home within hours with a vital infection and now Rochelle, from Kimberworth, is a finalist in the parent hero category of the Everyday Heroes awards.

Without first aid training, she might have been tempted to swaddle her shivering son, she said, which could have led to him losing consciousness.

“We were very lucky,” she added. “But it was the worst night of my life. Anyone with a baby or who is expecting one should learn first aid. I’m overwhelmed to be put forward for this award.”

The awards in London on September 7 will be presented by music star Myleene Klass, who saved her own daughter from choking.

St John Ambulance north director Simon Dunn said: “Everyday Heroes is the very essence of what St John Ambulance is about, ordinary people doing extraordinary things through first aid.”