Saved – by my F-A-S-T thinking girl’s actions

2:00pm Wednesday 29th August 2012

By Michelle Archard

PROUD dad Andrew Lawson has his quick-thinking daughter to thank for the fact he is now recovering from a potentially-disastrous stroke.

Mr Lawson, 53, passed out in the bathroom of his home in Lovens Close, Canvey , and awoke feeling dazed and confused.

It was only when his daughter, Kirsty, got home it became clear how seriously ill he was.

Kirsty, 27, a trainee teacher at Winter Gardens Primary School, Canvey, noticed his speech was slurred and his face was drooping – classic symptoms of a stroke.

She sat her dad down and dialled 999, recognising the symptoms from the NHS F-A-S-T TV campaign which urges people to act quickly if they spot the signs of a stroke.

Her quick reaction meant Mr Lawson was soon in Southend Hospital , having a brain scan and getting clot-busting drugs to reverse the often-devastating effects of a stroke.

He said: “I can’t thank her enough. I can’t put into words how good she was and also how fantastic all the staff at the hospital and the paramedics were.”

Ms Lawson said: “I walked in and heard dad upstairs. He came down and had a broken glass in a dustpan where he’d fainted and knocked it over.

“I was scared – I thought I was going to cry. He was unsteady on his feet, but I got him into the lounge, sat him down and rang an ambulance.

“I knew he was having a stroke because of the advert on the TV. “Luckily, he was calm, because he didn’t realise anything was wrong.”

The stroke was last month and he is already gaining mobility in his left side Ms Lawson added: “At hospital, they told me the fact I found him so quickly was good. “If he hadn’t been treated with the clot-busting drugs, he would be disabled now. “Now they’re confident he’ll make a full recovery.”

Because Mr Lawson suffered a stroke at such a relatively young age, he was also asked to help with in research studies at the hospital, including oxygen therapies and blood tests to check for genetic causes for his stroke.

Ms Lawson added: “The care and aftercare for dad and us as a whole family has been fantastic.”

Mr Lawson, a security guard at Ford’s Dagenham plant, is back home recovering with his daughter, his son Daniel, 24, and his wife Debbie, 51, all looking after him.