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Student nurse receives standing ovation for saving theatre-goers life

Kristian Keyte sprung into action when he saw the pensioner collapse Credit: ITV West Country

A theatre goer received a standing ovation from the crowd when he saved the life of a woman suffering a heart attack.

24-year-old Kristian Keyte had gone to see The Bodyguard at The Bristol Hippodrome on Thursday night when Judith Mansfield, 71, collapsed in the stalls.

Luckily the student nursing at the University of the West of England, and his accountant friend, helped lay her on the floor before Kristian gave her CPR until the ambulance crew arrived.

I don’t really know why I noticed her - we were just waiting for the show to start but there was something that didn’t seem quite right and then everything happened so quickly when she suddenly went into seizure.

I rushed over to her and checked her airways and I could see that she had agonal breathing which is where there is some movement but not enough to sustain life. With the help of others we lifted her out of her seat and on to the floor so that I could reassess her breathing. I would estimate that the time of arrest to start of resuscitation at less than a minute.

I had to perform CPR for about two minutes and also needed to use the Hippodrome defibrillator which applied a shock and this brought back a pulse. Her breathing was still very slow so we used the ventilation bag to get her breathing again. The ambulance crew arrived within seven to eight minutes and by that time she was awake but disorientated. I stayed with her whilst the ambulance crew gave her oxygen and monitored her condition.

– Kristian Keyte
The Bodyguard is being shown at Bristol's Hippodrome Credit: ITV West Country

The entire family - my dad, sister, three grandchildren and sons-in-law - are eternally grateful to Kristian and everyone else who helped, including St John Ambulance, who were on hand, and the ambulance crew. It could have been a very different story.

– Beverley Bishop, Judith's daughter
Credit: ITV West Country