Postie Danny Burns was praised for helping to save the life of a young man in Ardoyne last month. Zoe Walker chats to Danny, a first aider with St John’s Ambulance.
Little did Danny Burns know when he set out on delivery last month, that by the time he returned to his DO, he would have helped to save a life.
‘It was sort of right place at the right time,’ said Danny, a trained St John’s Ambulance first aider who was asked to help a young man, who was distressed and bleeding heavily, while out on his round.
‘It was an arterial bleed – which thankfully I have been trained to deal with, so I could intervene. I helped the paramedics who arrived to put a tourniquet on his arm. His consultant at A&E said that if there had been no intervention, he might not have survived.’
Nonetheless. Danny is reluctant to class his actions as ‘heroic.’
‘I’m from the area where it happened, and I have been a postman for 34 years,’ he said. ‘I’m sure this sort of thing has happened to anyone that has been on the job for that long.
‘I’m 55 years of age now, and being a St John’s Ambulance first aider is something I have always been interested in. I am an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) now.
‘The week before this happened, we did a course on arterial bleeds, so it was fresh in my memory. It is just one of those things that happens.
‘The local newspaper covered it, Belfast Live and it was all over the world when it happened. My son lives in Hanoi and he contacted me about it before I had seen it! From work colleagues you get the usual ribbing – “hero” and stuff. In Northern Ireland, we just tend to get on with things.’
Danny’s actions were praised by North Belfast MP, John Finucance, who said: ‘Our postal workers are a credit to the community, watching out for many of our most vulnerable citizens daily.’
Danny is also blue light trained to drive ambulance vehicles.
‘I feel maybe I should be doing that while the pandemic is underway,’ he said. ‘It is not about being a hero – we really need ambulance drivers over here. It’s terrible in the hospitals at the moment. I think it is very important that people get trained to first aid level. It’s very easy to learn.’
Photo by North Belfast News.