Off-duty fireman helps stricken dad

Richard Youle – Local democracy reporter

A firefighter who had offered to buy a critical bleed control kit for his community found himself using one a couple of days later when two children whose father lay bleeding on the pavement outside knocked on his door.

Steve Richards, of Ffordd Yr Afon, Bryngwyn Village, Gorseinon, initially used tea towels and tissues to try to stem the flow of blood from the head of Matthew Williams, who had tripped while trying to catch a rugby ball, but it kept seeping through.

Mr Richards’ wife Leanne phoned for an ambulance, and it emerged there was a bleed control kit located in a defibrillator box outside nearby Gorseinon Fire Station.

Mrs Richards collected it, and her husband then deployed it to staunch Mr Williams’ bleeding before driving him to Morriston Hospital as there was a lengthy wait for an ambulance.

There are now 420 publicly accessible critical bleed control kits in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot – mainly in defibrillator boxes – thanks to an initiative by the former High Sheriff of West Glamorgan, Melanie James.

‘Fantastic’

They contain a tourniquet, a special type of gauze and chest seal dressing, gloves, scissors, foil blanket, resuscitation shield and instructions showing which type of dressing to apply to which part of the body.

“The kit was absolutely fantastic,” said Mr Richards, 41. “The quality of the bandage was noted at Morriston Hospital. It clotted the wound. The nurses were well impressed.

“Not a lot of people know these kits are out there. We need to raise awareness.”

Mr Richards, who is based at Llanelli Fire Station, said he had previously bought a defibrillator for Bryngwyn Village and had recently offered to buy a bleed control kit.

He had been liaising with Mrs James, and couple of days before last Saturday’s incident he also spoke to Doug Dawson, of defibrillator charity Heartbeat Trust UK, and local councillor Nicola Matthews, who said she would fund the kit along with her ward colleagues Jan Curtice and Andrew Stevens.

Accident

The incident details are a little more hazy for Mr Williams, who had been returning home with his partner Sharon and two children, Finley, 15, and Maya, 5, from Gorseinon Cricket Club last Saturday evening.

“My son is a rugby fanatic and takes his rugby ball everywhere,” he said. “I think he had thrown the ball and I went to catch it. I was wearing flip-flops. I fell, and knocked my head and scraped my face on the pavement.”

The accident took place outside Mr Richards’ house, and Mr Williams’ partner Sharon happened to know he lived there and was a fireman.

Mr Williams was unconscious for a short time and recalled having “flittering brief memories” and being in Mr Richards’ kitchen with a head bandage before being driven to Morriston Hospital.

The 43-year-old said he had various tests before being discharged, and that the wound had clotted so well that he didn’t need stitches. He returned with Sharon to their home a few streets up from where had fallen, his father-in-law having taken the children home earlier.

“The kids were initially a bit shocked and distressed,” said Mr Williams, who thanked Mr and Mrs Richards’ daughter Eva for keeping them occupied while at the family home.

Mr Williams suffered bruised ribs and grazes as well as the cut to the head but was well enough on the Monday to return to work at the DVLA where he is a commercial manager.

Thanks

He added: “We went round on Wednesday evening to Steve’s to say thanks and took a couple of beers, some wine, flowers and chocolate. I think we’ll be lifelong friends now.”

He said he’d like to take part in training sessions to use the kits, and hopes the word will spread about them. “For some people it could be the difference between saving a life or not,” he said.

Mr Richards was also keen to bang the bleed control kit drum and encouraged people to attend any training sessions in their area.

You don’t need any expert medical knowledge to use them, but instructions in the packs tell people to phone 999 before applying their contents.

Mrs James, whose high sheriff tenure ended in April, described them as being fairly easy to use. She is rolling out training sessions in conjunction with Heartbeat Trust UK.

She said Swansea and Neath Port Talbot was the first area in Wales where the kits have been introduced, and that all secondary schools now have them. There were around 30,000 kits, she said, in England.

Mrs James said she was relieved the outcome of last Saturday’s accident was positive. “Steve was amazing – what a star,” she said.

It wasn’t the first time someone has knocked on Mr Richards’ door for help as many people know him as a fireman.

“I slipped into action mode,” he said. “I could see him (Mr Williams) lying unconscious. There was a lot of bleeding.”