Finola and Lisa from Asda Peterlee help to save customer's life

A huge well done to Finola Clarkson and Lisa Cuppit from our Peterlee store who've have been thanked by a customer they helped when he collapsed with severe anaemia.

The customer needed urgent medical care including several blood transfusions. He's still recovering in North Tees Hospital, but took the time to thank them for their actions.

He said: "The ladies from Asda went above and beyond their normal job role and deserve recognition for their actions. I'd like to thank them so much for everything they did on that day."

The pair, who work at the store's petrol filling station, have both been nominated for Asda service superstar, with store manager Steven McKenna, saying: "They were absolute superstars, lifesavers! They jumped into action and were able to keep him conscious.

"The gentleman needed emergency medical care and ended up in hospital needing seven pints of blood. The hospital told him that the intervention from our colleagues certainly helped to save the gentleman's life. Well done ladies."

Finola, who's 54 and has worked at Asda since 1999, was taking her break when she spotted the man collapse by a petrol pump. Lisa then phoned 999 for an ambulance. The pair cordoned off the area and kept the man conscious by chatting to him, while also speaking to the ambulance control.

Finola said: "The gentleman was very yellow and kept telling us he needed a blood transfusion. We just kept talking about all sorts of things to keep him conscious.

"It was raining and quite cold so we managed to get him off the ground and onto a chair from the office. We then made the decision to link arms and get him into the building."

They managed to get in touch with his wife who came to the petrol station and decided to take him to hospital by car rather than wait for an ambulance.

Finola said: "I think we did well, as the situation could have turned a lot worse. The first aid training that we had automatically kicked in."

Lisa, who's 33, said: "We are very proud of what we did. It's a good job that we were first aid trained. It would have been awful if we weren't.

"By the sounds of it, it's a good job it happened somewhere like here so he could get the help he needed straight away. It was lucky that he pulled in for fuel when he did otherwise it could have happened while he was driving.

"Having first aid is brilliant; everyone should know what to do when confronted by a situation like this.

"It was honestly terrifying, but we helped someone, didn't we, so it was worth it."