'Holby City' fan saves woman's life after watching CPR technique
A fan of BBC medical drama Holby City helped save a woman's life by using techniques learnt from watching the soap.
Steven Edwards, 44, noticed 82-year-old Kathleen Tate collapse in a nearby supermarket car park in Cambridge.
The kitchen-fitter was able to perform CPR on Kathleen, which kept her alive for 15 minutes before paramedics arrived at the scene.
Edwards explained that he has never had any medical training, and was only able to use CPR techniques after learning the skills from fictional characters in Holby City.
Holby City producers have since said that they were pleased to hear the drama was able to be used to save somebody's life, but warned others not to rely on the programme in future situations.
"Kathleen was basically dead," Edwards told Cambridge News. "'I have never done any training for life-saving. In the back of your mind it is an instinct to save someone.
''I guess I knew what to do from watching films and TV. I love Holby City - I must have watched hundreds of episodes. It is something that anyone else would do and I was so pleased to hear she was better.''
Edwards was aided by local man Danny Collen, who first called for help at the scene. He said: "I remember sitting in my car after having been to the pharmacy and watching as [Kathleen's daughter] Jenny found her mum in the car in trouble. I ran over and called for help while Steve started giving her CPR."
Collen and Edwards were reunited with Kathleen earlier this week. Kathleen's other daughter Kathy said: "These two men are the reason my mother is still alive and we are all so grateful."
Holby City producer Justin Young said: "While we would generally advise our viewers to leave saving lives to the professionals, we are proud and delighted if we were in any way the inspiration for Steve's heroic actions.
''All of us at Holby are pleased to hear Kathleen is making a full recovery and congratulate Steve on both his quick thinking and his excellent taste in television programmes.''