Student, 15, applied CPR to help save man in cardiac arrest at mall

Alva Wong had just eaten lunch at Velocity @ Novena Square on March 10 and was on her way to school when she saw a small gathering of people outside Cedele bakery.

- Joakim Kang

As the 15-year-old approached, she saw an elderly man lying unconscious on the ground and a distraught woman being consoled by onlookers.

Alva, a Secondary 4 student at Raffles Girls' School (RGS) and Red Cross Youth cadet, had training in first aid, but she was not sure if she could save him.

She stepped forward anyway, overcame her self-doubt and applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This kept him alive until the paramedics arrived.

Speaking at her school on April 15, she said she had hesitated to help as she was worried about not being the best person to render aid.

But as no one else was helping him, she stepped forward.

She quickly realised the man was in cardiac arrest as he had no pulse and was not breathing.