Imogen Tinkler struggles to remember exactly what happened after her eight-week-old daughter went limp in her arms.
“I was feeding her and I looked down, and her lips were grey,” she said. “I knew it didn’t look right. I was in a state of shock, and I just went into muscle memory. I didn’t think.”
What she does know is that she did everything she could for Beatrix in that moment. When she noticed her daughter’s lips had turned blue and she was unresponsive, Ms Tinkler immediately cleared a space on her floor and began to give her CPR as she called for an ambulance. Her intervention meant that by the time paramedics arrived, Beatrix was breathing again.
The newborn was airlifted to King’s College Hospital in London, where she stayed on life support for eight days as doctors did everything they could to keep her alive. Tragically, she had suffered further complications during the episode, and the decision was finally made to switch off her life support machine.
It was March 2020, the early days of Covid when hospital rooms were bursting to the brim, and Ms Tinkler, 43, and her husband Duncan had to stand in a ward and watch their daughter die.
In the deeply painful days that followed, the couple were brought comfort by the knowledge that Ms Tinkler had been able to give Beatrix the very best chance of survival because she could administer CPR.
“Knowing that I was able to start CPR straight away and that we did everything we could has made an unbearable loss more possible to live with,” she said. “Without that knowledge, I think I would have carried ‘what if?’ for the rest of my life.”
Ms Tinkler had spent time as a lifeguard, where she says the life-saving practice of CPR was drilled into her. She was also given a refresh course by nurses at the hospital where Beatrix was born just before she came home. Ms Tinkler said she believes everyone should learn CPR, and described the comfort it gave her as “everything”.
“Learning CPR is one of the best things you can do,” she said. “You hope to never use it, but it gives you such comfort. You just never know when you are going to need it for your own family, because you just think it will never happen to you.
“Knowing CPR wasn’t just a little bit of comfort,” she said. “For me, it was everything. When you lose someone, you go round and round thinking, ‘what could I have done differently?’ If I hadn’t had that skillset, I would’ve spent the rest of my life questioning it.”
Ms Tinkler is sharing her experience in support of an initiative by the Central London Alliance (CLA), which is gearing up for a Guinness World Record attempt at the biggest CPR relay ever held.
Held over two days on 22 and 23 September, the relay hopes to recruit 4,000 participants from across London to gain CPR training and take part. The Independent is proudly partnering with the event as its official media partner.
Tony Matharu, chairman of the CLA, echoed Ms Tinkler’s message that CPR can empower you not to “be a bystander” when crisis hits. He had his own experience of watching its power in action when, during a hockey game he was playing in last year, an otherwise fit and healthy member of the opposition team collapsed in front of him.
Thankfully, a doctor was on the pitch and was able to administer CPR while Mr Matharu ran to get the defibrillator. But he said what sticks in his mind is the faces of the “anxious bystanders” who could only watch on as the situation unfolded.
“Learning CPR is essential,” he said. “There’s an absolute certainty that if somebody has a heart attack the right thing to do is to perform CPR immediately as soon as you can, with confidence.”
He encouraged anyone who wants to gain confidence and a new life-skill to sign up for the relay, emphasising it is open to “anyone who is interested”.
Businesses, schools, community groups and individuals are all encouraged to register for the event, which takes place on 22 and 23 September at Tower Suites by Blue Orchid Hospitality in London.
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