University News Last updated 13 September
A Birmingham City University (BCU) alumnus has been awarded the Resuscitation Certificate of the Society from the Royal Humane Society (RHS).
Father Grant Ciccone, who graduated from BCU in 2006 with a DipHe in Nursing, is a retired Catholic Priest who was ordained in 1990.
The Royal Humane Society grants awards for acts of bravery in saving human life and restoring life by resuscitation.
Father Grant was in South-East London when an elderly man collapsed, complaining of chest pain and an ache running down his arm.
He said: “I started talking to him to get an idea of what was happening, when he went into cardiac arrest.
“I checked his airway, his breathing and circulation and established the man had no pulse. I then started CPR, including mouth to mouth, whilst someone rang for an ambulance.”
Though he hadn’t performed the procedure for a few years, “Doing CPR was something that came naturally.”
He continued compressions for 20 minutes until the paramedics arrived and took over, at which point his heartbeat was restored. The elderly man was then treated in the ambulance for 30 more minutes before being taken to hospital.
On 11 September 2024, Father Grant was among those who gathered at the iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the RHS.
Father Grant explained: “I was contacted about a month ago advising me that I had been nominated for the award and if I was happy to receive it.”
The award itself says that it was ‘resolved unanimously’ at the Committee to award Father Grant for his ‘humanity, promptitude and skill’.
When asked how it feels to have received the award, Father Grant said: “I am humbled, because I am not a hero even though people have said I am, I was just there at the right time.”
Having studied at what was then known as the University of Central England (UCE), now BCU, Father Grant took most of his Nursing placements at the Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Edgbaston, not far from our City South Campus..
Of his time at UCE, Father Grant says: “It was a very interesting course that prepared me to care for the human experience in ways that training for the priesthood didn’t.
“Ann-Marie Dodson was my personal tutor and was super supportive. We became friends not long after I had left college and have been friends ever since.”
Father Grant’s advice for everyone is: “Do a First Aid course and learn how to perform CPR. You may not need to use the skills, but you never know if someone will collapse in front of you."