A Kilkenny man who saved the life of a disabled pensioner who got into trouble while swimming in the sea has been hailed as a hero in the Spanish resort of Almeria.
Clive Jackson was travelling across Spain with his wife Martina for two weeks looking at properties when they stopped in the resort of Almeria. While on the beach on June 9 last he noticed two men running from the sea holding the arms of an elderly man who had clearly got into trouble while swimming.
“It was the second day of our holiday and we were sitting on a wall. I saw that there was a group of elderly people around him and they were pumping his stomach with their fists. I knew this was the wrong thing to do so I ran down to the man. He was purple in the face and his lips were purple - he looked dead and had no pulse,” said Mr Jackson.
“I told the men to stop what they were doing as it was making him sick. I bent down and started mouth to mouth CPR . I pushed his head back and held his nose and began the procedure for about 10 minutes. I was also pushing on his chest but nothing was happening. Everyone was screaming as he was a part of a group of retired Spanish people on holiday from northern Spain and they were all together. Just as I was giving up I stood back and noticed the man’s eyes rolled and I began mouth to mouth again and he finally started breathing. About five minutes later a medical team arrived and took over. He was taken away in a helicopter to hospital.”
Mr Jackson who is a retired brewery worker and lives on the Dunningstown Road in Kilkenny had little or no life saving training but he remembered what he knew very quickly.
“ I remember once in the brewery in about 1990 they had a training day for workers for these kind of emergencies and it just kicked in I suppose. I can’t even swim well! But I remembered what needed to be done and it worked thankfully for that man.”
Mr Jackson became something of a celebrity in Almeria and was interviewed by the press at the time. He is very modest about his part in the operation but was happy that he was there and able to help.
“The group of people were all older and the man in trouble was 79 and was crippled according to reports that we heard afterwards. They said that he had gone under and couldn’t stand up on the sea bed and that is how the accident happened. All of them were in their seventies and they were pressing on the man’s stomach not his chest. At least I knew that this was wrong and was able to help. I don’t know if I would have done what I did if I had thought about it.”
Clive and Martina never discovered who the man was but were happy in the knowledge that he had been saved.
“We heard about a week later that he made a full recovery and we were just delighted to hear that,” he said.
They returned to Kilkenny earlier this week and returned to life as normal. Clive has now retired from the brewery and has completed a degree in Computer IT support. He is currently studying for a second degree in Tipperary Institute in Computers and Multimedia.
“Oh, it’s just something to pass the time,” he joked.
A modest man until the last.
