Mater Hospital nurse, Aoife McGivney, is to be nominated for her bravery following an incident on Dublin Bus on Monday.
The skilled nurse was quick on her feet earlier in the week when Dublin Bus driver, Martin Cristie, fell unconscious behind the wheel. Rushing to his rescue, Aoife was able to bring the bus to a halt by removing his foot from the pedal and then bringing him to the footpath to perform CPR near Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2.
Aoife then continued to give the man CPR until the emergency services arrived, saving the man’s life.
And now, according to the Irish Independent, the Lord Mayor of Dublin wants to personally invite Aoife to the Mansion House to nominate her for a National Bravery Award.
“These are given to people from all walks of life and all sections of society who carried out a deed of bravery with an effort to save human life involving personal risk. Aoife certainly fits that criteria” Lord Mayor Niall Ring said in a statement.
“When we look at Aoife’s actions where, seeing the driver was ill, she ran to the front of the bus and took the driver’s feet off the bus pedals and stopped the bus, we cannot but see this as an act of bravery and courage. The fact that she then moved the driver on to the footpath and carried out CPR before emergency services arrived is equally astounding” he added.
Speaking earlier in the week to Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ’s Radio One, the hero nurse recalled the frightening event by saying:
“It was a very scary situation to be in.
“Even if someone had first aid, it’s thinking what to do, when to recognise to start going into CPR.
“That’s the main reason I want to talk about all of this, I want to promote first aid and to encourage people to get their training, to actively recognise when it is time to intervene.”
A remarkable and kind act of bravery. According to Dublin Fire Brigade, the bus driver is also “recovering well” at this time.
