Farnworth colleagues help disabled woman – only hours after finishing first aid training

Crystal Harwood and Kealey Smith from our Farnworth store had only just completed their first aid training when they were called into action to care for an 84-year-old lady who'd cut her head after falling out of her mobility scooter.

Crystal and Kealey called 999, put pressure on the wound to stem the bleeding, and kept the lady calm and comfortable – talking to her for more than two-and-a-half hours until paramedics arrived to take her to hospital.

Kealey, who's 32 and George section leader, said: "We learned so much on the first aid course, but we never thought we'd have to put it into practice so soon ... we'd only just got back into the store, but we just knew what to do straight away.

"The first aid course was so good. I wanted to do it to make a difference and hopefully I have. If anyone is thinking of going on one I'd definitely recommend it.

"I felt so sorry for the lady. We just kept her warm, reassured her and chatted to her while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. She had really banged her head so it could have been a lot worse.

"The lady's daughter has been into the store since to thank us and said that her mum was making a good recovery."

Thirty-five-year-old Crystal, who is bakery and counters section leader, said: "We really were thrown in at the deep end. It's so different being in a real-life scenario as during our training we were just working on dummies.

"The training was so good and I learned such a lot and I'm glad I put it to good use so quickly.

"After we put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding, we just kept her calm and talked to her about all sorts. She got cold at one point soo we got her a quilt to keep her warm. I'm just glad she is okay now and doing well."

Tracey Smillie, the store's GM and George trading manager, said the whole store was proud of Crystal and Kealey.

She said: "They were amazing, so calm and very professional, and to think they had just finished their first aid course. They weren't nervous at all, they just got on with it.

"It was their first shift back in store and they hadn't been in that long when they got the call out – you couldn't make it up really.

"The lady was in a mobility scooter and as she'd tried to get something off the bottom shelf she accidentally put her foot on the accelerator and toppled out, hitting her face and head.

"She kept saying to us that she'd survived bombings in Manchester during the war so 'if Hitler couldn't kill me this wasn't going to'. She suffered a fractured eye socket and a broken nose, but she is now recovering."

Store manager Jennie Court added: "Straight out of your training and into quite a serious accident! It didn’t phase either of you. Well done and thank you."

Crystal and Kealey have now been nominated for Asda service superstar awards for the way they helped the lady.