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A concertgoing nurse has been labelled a hero for her work treating Wiggles performer Greg Page after he suffered cardiac arrest at a bushfire fundraiser late last week.
Off duty-nurse Grace Jones was in the audience of the Wiggles concert for bushfire relief that brought together the band’s original members. Towards the end of the event, Page collapsed and stopped breathing, suffering cardiac arrest.
Jones, who works at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, saw Page fall to the ground and offered her help.
Bandmate Murray Cook told ABC’s The Drum Jones “knew what she was doing”.
“When Grace turned up, she took control,” Cook said. “Our drummer and one of our staff members Kim [Antonell] started the CPR and then the defibrillator turned up. Grace Jones took over there and she was amazing."
Jones later described to reporters the “surreal” experience when her training kicked in.
“I saw Greg collapse on the side of the stage,” Jones said. “I asked one of the security guards if they needed any medical assistance and they said ‘yes’.
“I was the only one there who had any training besides first aid training so I just started to do what I do at work." After administering CPR, Jones was handed a defibrillator to use.
Intensive care paramedic Brian Parsell joined the chorus singing Jones' praises, labelling her a hero. He told reporters: “It was only through her efforts of the bystanders before we arrived that [Page] is alive today.
"We are good paramedics and we do a great job, but it helps when there are people there doing what needs to be done before we arrive.”
Jones said: “I didn’t go to the concert expecting to do that so it all feels a bit surreal. I do stuff like that every day at work but I have never had to do it without equipment.
“I’ve been trained to do that and I kind of flicked a switch. I went in and I just used all the knowledge that helped him, and saved him.”
The Wiggles updated fans on Saturday to say Page has had a procedure and is now recovering in hospital.
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