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Chatham police cadet leader helps save a young girl's life in Great Lines Heritage Park

By: Alex Langridge alangridge@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 14 February 2022

Updated: 13:57, 15 February 2022

A volunteer police cadet leader has told of his quick-thinking actions that helped save a young girl's life.

Kieran Stratton-Keevil was walking to a group meeting after his shift at work when he came across her and another passer by at Great Lines Heritage Park in the Medway Towns.

Kieran tells of how he helped the young girl

He said: "It was a shock. I heard her scream before I saw her. She was doubled over in pain. She was in a really bad state.

"The other person was trying to speak to her and we phoned an ambulance. I went through all their questions as you would do.

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"I gave her general first aid and made sure she was not getting dizzy. I spoke to her about anything really to make sure she was in a safe environment.

"We talked about the music she liked and what she wanted to be in the future."

The 20-year-old was walking through the park at around 6.15pm on Tuesday night after his shift at stationery store Ryman in Chatham high street.

He saw the other passerby - Stefan - stop his bike and rush over to the lady and decided to go and see if he could help.

Kieran used basic first aid training he had learned from the cadets to help the girl

They called an ambulance and took it in turns to make sure she was OK and waited with her until the paramedics showed up and she received the care she needed.

Kieran, of Luton Road, Chatham added: "I literally saw her and all my training from the cadets kicked straight in. I crouched down to her eye level and just started talking to her and asking a few questions like where is the pain.

"I sort of froze but you cannot freeze when someone needs you in that situation. I am a little bit shaken up.

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"When you walk into that kind of situation you do get a sense of fear but you need to block it out and crack on with helping the people who need your help.

"As long as you are safe and the environment around you is safe they are your main priority."

The dad-of-one has since been contacted by the girl's family thanking him for helping and was told she is now doing ok after the incident.

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He added: "I definitely would suggest anybody learns first aid and to learn a lot more about mental health and how different things can influence it.

"A lot of people are not trained in first aid which is odd to me as I would prefer it if everyone was trained in first aid and mental health as a whole.

"The world we are living in, mental health is so vivid and diverse with the amount of different ways it can affect people, we all need to know how we can deal with it.

"I know there are courses out there but in some schools and curriculums they are not guaranteed lessons. Basic first aid is brilliant in situations like this."

Kieran has been with the Medway division cadets since he was 15 and has worked his way up the ranks to leader.

He said this alongside his college course in Public Services has taught him the skills he relied on.

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time or click here to visit the website. If you want to talk to someone confidentially, click here.

The volunteer added: "Some have called me a hero but I am not a hero. I was just doing what anyone else would do.

"I would like to thank Stefan for his help and to the young lady involved I hope you are feeling a lot better now and getting the help you need."

The other passerby - Stefan - said he was on his way home from work when he saw the young girl who was "crying and shaking" and immediately pulled over on his bike to help her.

He rang an ambulance and passed the phone over to Kieran when he arrived because he had an accent and "did not want to waste crucial time" when the dispatcher was asking questions.

Stefan said: "I tried to comfort her that everything would be fine and that help was coming - at the same time, I was sitting next to her, rubbing her back and arms to make her warmer because she was shaking from the cold."

He ran out onto the road to wait for help and was able to wave down a different ambulance who responded to the incident after hearing the girl's situation. They put her in a wheelchair and Stefan said he passed her his number so she would be able to talk to someone if she needed to.

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