A man who came to the rescue of a 19-year-old woman who suffered a seizure while swimming said he thought of his own daughters as he worked to save her life.

Derek Abbot, 59, told Times of Malta how he and two strangers came together to perform CPR on the young woman on Wednesday evening after her friends managed to get her out of the sea.

He said he would like to visit her “to make sure she is okay”, describing the incident as traumatic for all involved.

The Malta Red Cross praised Abbot’s actions on Facebook post yesterday, referencing “a Scottish man” “who bravely initiated CPR and played a crucial role in the rescue before professional help arrived”.

They said his “courageous actions undoubtedly helped save a life”.

Abbot, a hospitality consultant who has been living in Malta for 23 years, said he and his wife had gone to enjoy the views of Ta’ Fra Ben at around 6pm.

“We were sitting on the rocks, enjoying a drink when, suddenly, there was a commotion on the rocky beach in front of us,” he said.

“There was a young woman lying on a rocky peninsula. She was surrounded by people. Someone had put her in the recovery position. Her eyes were open but she was unresponsive,” he recalled.

Abbot, who received first aid training as part of his preparation to become an executive chef, offered to help along with two women, who he didn’t know.

“The two women – a German and another young woman – alternated with the chest compressions while I administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. This lasted for about 15 minutes until the paramedics arrived,” he said.

Meanwhile Abbot asked the young woman’s friends if she had taken any drugs or alcohol or if she suffered from any conditions, he said.

19-year-old hospitalised, in serious condition

The woman’s friends told him that she was not under the influence of anything. They said they had gone for a swim after finishing a course they were attending. At one point the young woman resurfaced from the water and seemed to be having a fit or a seizure. Her friends helped her onto the peninsula and she lost consciousness.

Following the intervention of the people on the beach, members of the Malta Red Cross arrived and were later accompanied by the police, rescuers of the Civil Protection Department and an ambulance crew.

The young woman was hospitalised in a serious condition. 

“The most traumatic part of this for me was leaving the young woman non-responsive,” Abbot said.

“I have two daughters aged 23 and 25 and I was thinking of them. I just want to know if that young woman is okay and I’d love to go visit her and see her while she is conscious to make sure she is okay.”

CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is an emergency treatment carried out when someone’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped.

It involves hard pushes on the chest called compressions that can be accompanied with rescue breaths – or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Survival rates from cardiac arrest witnessed by bystanders remains below average in Malta – something the Malta Resuscitation Council has been working to change.

Survival can increase to 40 per cent with prompt bystander recognition and initiation of high-quality chest compressions.