“I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t a woman in Asda”

An Asda worker has been hailed as a hero after rushing to save a customer who was having a heart attack. Tammie Wakefield, who works at the supermarket’s Radcliffe store, swung into action when she realized Julie Woodburn was unwell. The trained first aider said he immediately noticed the signs of a heart attack, so he called an ambulance.

Tammie did her best to keep Julie awake until the paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital. After being treated, Julie, 65, returned to the shop and praised Julie for her quick intervention, which she said “saved her life”.

“It was a total shock,” Julie said. “I truly owe my life to Tammie. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.” Tammie, 50, was working at the workshop in April when a colleague reported a woman was unwell in the pharmacy section. He went to talk to the woman, who told him she was suffering from stomach pains and indigestion.

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“She was quite pale,” said Tammie, who works as a community champion at the store. “She said she had a bit of pain in her jaw so I called an ambulance straight away.

“I knew it could be a sign that a woman was having a heart attack. At the time, I didn’t think that would actually be the case.”

Tammie did her best to keep Julie awake until paramedics arrived and took Julie to Fairfield Hospital in Bury. Doctors confirmed Julie had suffered a heart attack, while tests showed she had two blocked arteries and one partially blocked.

Tammie said she didn’t hear a word about Julie until she returned to the supermarket six days later.

“She came over and hugged me,” Tammie recalled. “I half expected them to say they didn’t find anything, but she said ‘thanks for saving my life.’ It was exciting.

“She said the hospital told her that if she had gone home without any intervention, she wouldn’t be here now. That’s disappointing. It’s great that she’s doing so well now.”

Tammie said she started learning first aid and researching heart conditions after her son Ben was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome – a condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast – in 2020.

“He used to collapse and become unconscious, so I had to learn how to resuscitate him and get his heart rate down,” Tammie explained. “If I can do it to my son, I can do it to anyone.”

Julie has since returned to the store to give Tammie a card. Instead, the shop staff gave Julia a cake to mark her 65th birthday.

Reflecting on her heroics, Tammie said: “I was supposed to be there that day and she was supposed to be in that store.”