A mother’s love and dedication.

Yvette Brown, Community Resuscitation Engagement Officer, has a vital role within Team NWAS. Yvette raises awareness about public health and spends her weeks training people how to do effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use a defibrillator.

We sit down with Yvette to talk about how the rare respiratory condition her son, Oliver, was born with guided her towards becoming a paramedic. She says he is the reason she is motivated to help people in her local communities.

Born on Christmas Day, Oliver was diagnosed with a rare health condition called Coffin-Siris Syndrome (CSS). Symptoms of CCS can range from struggling to breathe, having a thinner airway, rarely crying, and not taking milk. It is estimated to affect around 200 people worldwide.

Oliver showed signs of all these symptoms and after spending the first few months of his life in hospital, Yvette was told he would not live past two years of age.

Yvette and her family took the news hard but she was determined to prove doctors wrong. She became an advocate for Oliver’s health and care and spent the next 20 years attending conferences in other countries, learning everything she could about his condition, and lived with him in hospital for long periods of time.

At the time of Oliver’s diagnosis, Yvette felt incredibly isolated, there was a real lack of understanding of his condition with medical professionals as it was so rare. She was unable to work flexibly in her job at the time which made things harder for her. Throughout all this, however, Yvette focused on her love for Oliver and continued to pursue the best treatment available.

It was through caring for Oliver she met many paramedics and technicians along the way. After experiencing the excellent care they gave to Oliver, she decided the ambulance service was a career path she wanted to take.

“I learned so much about Ollie’s health condition as I wanted to create the best life for him. I had to call the ambulance service regularly and I met some amazing paramedics and technicians. I created a guide about Ollie that I shared with them, which they appreciated. Ollie was always treated with care, compassion, and dignity by them, and it made me realise that I too could do the same for people.”

No parent ever wants to outlive their child, but Yvette has always known she may one day sadly outlive Oliver. As his full-time carer, Yvette was afraid her eventual loss would be too much to bear. Finding the ambulance service and applying for her current role gave Yvette the chance to build something for herself whilst still caring for Oliver who is now 23 years old.

Yvette could not be prouder of him and how he has faced health hurdles in his life: “Ollie lives on ventilation every night and has carers. We have raised him with love, commitment, care, and support.”

Yvette’s care and commitment to her son extends beyond her role as mum and flows over into her day job. She is passionate about promoting health awareness to people of all ages. She has some handy tools and techniques to help her reach the right people, including a mapping system to identify areas of Greater Manchester which have higher and more frequent cardiac arrests. She strategically targets schools and care homes in these areas and aims to visit one every week to teach them how to do CPR and how to use a defibrillator. Yvette says:

“Cardiac arrests can happen to anyone. No matter what your gender, age, nationality, or background is. Aside of my son being my priority, teaching people the knowledge around CPR and defibrillators is why I get up in the morning.”

Yvette’s training sessions have touched the lives of diverse individuals, from her family members to community members of all ages. Yvette firmly believes that anyone can learn CPR, which is crucial in saving lives.

“The communities I work in are already starting to reach out to me. Engagement is going well, but I am determined to do more.”