13/10/2026
So, a bit of a serious post now. Last weekend Cerys and I visited my lovely daughter and her partner in what was meant to be a wonderful weekend together. On the Sunday we went to the beach and were walking down by the sea when we came across a man who was having a medical crisis. It was very traumatic, we all got embroiled in trying to help, but very sadly he died at the scene. It’s had quite a significant impact on us, and last week we really struggled with feelings of guilt, sadness, and overwhelm really. I am proud of Cerys, Alena and JJ for their swift actions, immediately trying to get help, running for a DeFib etc, meeting the emergency services and I stayed on the phone to the call handler relaying info to a woman who started doing CPR. We’ve all struggled with processing this and last week felt like a a bit of a write off. This week we have 3 Comfort Cafe sessions and things are busy so we feel distracted BUT, and here’s the BUT! It’s got me thinking; Could we organise a First Aid session for our Comfort Cafe ladies? I’ve contacted St John’s Ambulance and started a conversation, initially trying to process the “did we do enough?” thoughts. This has then led to a conversation about them offering an hours free First Aid Training session to Community Groups, aka, The Comfort Cafe. I feel like this could be really good, potentially spreading up to date First Aid Skills, and also I would feel like we’re taking a tragic situation and making some good come out of it.
We’re always open at the CC, we don’t claim to be something we’re not. We often have really open, raw conversations in our sessions about struggles we, or you, have had.
And this is no different. Things have felt hard, and we’ve all felt a bit sad at the outcome of events; but I’m usually quite motivated at meeting a challenge or event with a “action”. So maybe this will be the action that comes from the sadness.
I just need to know who would be interested, to get an idea of numbers, and to then find a venue to host us.
Would value your thoughts.
I would ask you please if you do attend the CC on Friday that you please do not ask Cerys to elaborate on what I’ve discussed above, she’s struggling more than most.
So… First Aid for an hour? Who’s in? I want to do something in this man’s honour, and this seems like the right, ideal fit and could benefit others going forward.
