Midwife used dad's loss as fuel to save a stranger

"I knew that we had to try and keep this man alive, even if it was the last thing I did."

Midwife Melanie Stinton, and six others, used CPR to save Peter Prendiville after he collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest while playing hockey at Droitwich Leisure Centre, Worcestershire, in November 2024.

But for Stinton, who had been volunteering as the medical officer for Droitwich Spa Football Club at the time, it arguably meant more after her dad suffered a fatal heart attack when she was 18.

"If I could stop another family from experiencing what my family experienced at that time then - even if it was just one family - it would be worth it," she said.

"Even though I didn't know him from the next person, for me, that's what I've spent my whole life trying to do, keep people alive."

Stinton had just started her training to become a nurse when her dad collapsed while visiting a relatives house.

"I always think what if those people had known resuscitation skills, and as it happens, there is now a defibrillator in the post office that's over the road from that place."

She has used her families grief as motivation to prevent another family going through something similar.

She said: "I felt quite privileged to be in that position to be able to help Pete, and help his family not have to go through the grief that we went through."

Stinton added: "Until you've been in that situation of losing somebody like that, I don't think you understand the impact it has on a family.

"I've since had a number of close friends who have died from heart attacks and heart-related incidents, and it brings it home just how frequent this is now.

"These skills just need to be imbedded and I'm a big believer it should start in schools and we should be teaching every child CPR."

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