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A woman has thanked four student paramedics from the ¹ú²úÊÓƵ who came to her aid when she was injured on the Malvern Hills as she turns the corner in her recovery.

Sam Hughes said first year Paramedic Science students, Thomas Dwyer, Will Lewis, Tasmin Cramer and Anna Budrewicz had been “absolutely fantastic” when she got into difficulty after falling over.

Anna, 20, originally from Harrogate, said: “We were at the right place at the right time.”  Thomas, 20, from County Kerry, Ireland, added: “It’s always nice to know you have helped someone; it was a bit of real-life practice for us.”

The group were out walking on the Malvern Hills earlier in the year when, as they descended from the Worcestershire Beacon, they saw Sam, who was out walking with her five-year-old daughter Lola, fall, hurting her knee.

The students, who all live together, offered their help.  While some of the students assisted Sam in trying to make her way down, 19-year-old Tasmin, from Evesham, escorted her young daughter off the peak.  “I was in absolute agony.  I didn’t want my daughter to get upset because she looked panicked already,” said Sam.  Aware of Sam’s concern, Tasmin said she found topics to talk about to distract the youngster from the situation.

Although keen to try to get herself down and not involve emergency services, Sam was in too much pain to be able to make it any further than halfway.  The students came across two off-duty firefighters who happened to be passing who then summoned a Fire Service rescue crew and an ambulance.

The students waited with her daughter until she could be picked up by a family member and stayed on until the crews arrived to take Sam to hospital.

Sam, 30, later contacted the University to thank the students for their help and said nothing had been too much trouble for them.  “They not only helped me get off the floor, they assisted me down the hill, and stayed with me until the fire brigade and paramedics came.  I honestly cannot thank these guys enough.  There was plenty of offers of help, these guys however did not just offer, they insisted and stayed for the duration until both me and my daughter were safe.

“I didn’t have to worry about getting her down the hill as well as myself.  As we were waiting, two of them were with my daughter and explained what was happening. They could see I was cold and they offered me their coats, one offered to put their coat down so I could sit on it.  All of them were absolutely fantastic.”

The students only started their course in September.  “We were meant to be going out onto placement but that had to be postponed because of the pandemic, so in a way it was a bit of a substitute,” joked 19-year-old Will, from Leeds. 

Sam, a community nurse, has recently completed physiotherapy and is on the way to a full recovery from what clinicians think was a momentary dislocation resulting in cartilage damage.

Liz Davies-Ward, Head of the University’s School of Allied Health and Community, said: “We’re really proud of our students for assisting in the way that they did.  They showed an instinct to help others that will no doubt stand them in good stead in their careers as paramedics.”