A Melksham mum has taken her campaign for CPR awareness to the national stage, urging all new parents to learn this critical skill after her own experience saving her baby’s life.
Over the past few years, Hayley Gardyj, a mother of three from Bowerhill, has been campaigning to ensure that all new parents are given CPR training, following her traumatic experience of giving CPR to her son Brodie when he stopped breathing as a newborn.
Recently, Hayley featured in an infant CPR training video produced by the British Red Cross and appeared on Channel 5 News, sharing her powerful story and the importance of CPR training.
“I feel that the message is reaching more people and being spread far and wide,” Hayley said. “More people are joining the campaign and sharing the CPR video, including health visitors, midwives, and paediatricians who I work with at HCRG Care Group. The Red Cross has
been incredibly supportive and sympathetic in producing this video, and I’m grateful for their help.”
In her latest initiative, Hayley aims to ensure that all new parents have easy access to CPR training through QR codes or by including the training video in all newborn books provided when leaving the hospital.
“It’s crucial for parents to undertake this training,” Hayley stressed. “Although practising CPR on a doll can be uncomfortable, it’s vital for saving lives. I believe it would be fantastic if the training video could be included in all baby books and made a standard part of parenting classes.”
Hayley’s advocacy began in 2022 after a life-threatening incident involving her son when she was visiting a local vet. She explained, “Brodie had a peculiar cry and was inconsolable before he sudden
ly stopped breathing. He turned purple and limp, and I knew immediately that something was terribly wrong.”
Hayley rushed into the building and began administering basic CPR, which she remembered from a paediatric training course she had taken a year earlier. After several minutes of compressions, Brodie began breathing again and was swiftly taken to hospital.
Hayley said, “I’d done the training thinking it was a good idea and I am so relieved that I did it. I was in an absolute panic, but bits of the training came back to me. That’s why the training is so important. It should be compulsory for all new parents. I don’t know why it’s not. Just a little knowledge can make all the difference and help save a baby’s life.”
To watch the Red Cross video featuring Hayley and to access a guide on infant CPR, visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PyFFbMoVG8
