When East Midlands Ambulance Service received a call about the youngster, Mike Hardy, a 21-year-old systems engineering student at Loughborough University, was on call as a community first responder. Admitting that he “wouldn’t normally go to a case with a baby”, he did this time because he was close and an air ambulance was on the way.
When he arrived at the home, the 21-year-old picked up the infant and started to massage her back and pump her chest.
Talking about the incident, Mike said: “When I got to the house there was quite a lot of panic. The baby, who was 20 hours old, was on her back. She had stopped breathing and was quite floppy and was quite blue."
However, thanks to his quick thinking, within minutes the little girl “was making efforts to breath on her own and then made a few little wails.”
Mike joined the Shepshed Community First Responder Scheme in September last year because “[he] knew the ambulance service was going through a lot and struggling with response times and [he] wanted to make a difference.” He completed a four day ‘first person on scene’ training course and goes to monthly training sessions, but doesn’t intend to become a paramedic.
Velvitchia's mum has described Mike as an “angel” saying: “He is a saint and we will never forget the gift he has given our family. There should be more people like him.”
