Pharmacy in West London helped save life of teenage stabbing victim
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A pharmacist and his team in West London helped save the life of a teenager who was stabbed in a nearby park and driven to their pharmacy by a family member with multiple wounds to get help.
The 16-year-old boy, whose injuries are reportedly non-life-threatening and non-life-changing, was stabbed in the park at Bridgwater Road Fields in South Ruislip on July 8 before being taken to Ruislip Manor Pharmacy, according to its pharmacist Sanjay Doegar.
He said he and his team administered first aid and managed to stem the flow of blood as they attempted to stabilise the teenager before calling an ambulance and the police.
"We took a systematic approach once we saw he had multiple stab wounds. We used our life skills and our first aid training kicked in somehow. We used lots of clean material to stem the flow of blood," Doegar told Independent Community Pharmacist.
"One of the other pharmacists, Seema, made a tourniquet to stop blood loss from his leg. We were not sure of the location of the incident, so asked staff to lock the doors in case the assailant was still nearby, which he wasn’t.
"I was thinking 'don’t go unconscious' and found out his date of birth in case he passed out or deteriorated before the emergency services came. I wrote his name and other details such as his phone number into my disposable gloves as I was taught in first aid training."
A London Ambulance spokesperson told Harrow Online it sent an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and London’s Air Ambulance to the scene where the teenager received further treatment before he was taken to “a major trauma centre by road as a priority”. The Metropolitan Police is continuing its investigation and no arrests have been made.
Doegar said the ambulance service returned later to praise his staff for their "life-saving intervention" in stopping the teenager’s blood loss. “A bad situation could have potentially become a fatal one,” he said.
Doegar, who also revealed the teenager’s mother came to the pharmacy the day after the attack to thank his team, said: “We are all relieved that the victim is now making a recovery.”