Case Study: Zehra - "The feeling of helplessness was so painful"

Zehra Azim was born in Amroha, India and is currently studying at Queen Mary University of London. Her maternal grandmother, Syeda Sultana Naqvi, 72, passed away as a result of sudden cardiac arrest in March 2021.

Despite maintaining an active lifestyle and engaging in daily activities without any complications, Zehra’s grandmother experienced a sudden cardiac arrest at home. After experiencing chest pains and wheezing very suddenly at around 11pm, her grandmother lost consciousness and, due to the absence of appropriate first aid measures, remained unresponsive.

Zehra was studying for her university exams with her mother when they received the devastating call that her grandmother had gone into cardiac arrest. Unable to get to her aunt’s house – where her grandmother was staying – Zehra and her mother could only listen to the “chaos” unfolding before an ambulance arrived.

The ambulance took her to the nearest hospital once they had successfully restarted her heart. Unfortunately, Syeda took her final breath in the Intensive Care Unit two days later.

Prior to Zehra’s grandmother’s cardiac arrest, there had been no warning signs. Undoubtedly, the incident stands out as one of the most distressing moments in Zehra’s life and influenced her decision to join St John Ambulance and learn CPR.

Zehra is now working on a first aid resource in Urdu, which will show people how to perform CPR and use an AED. Zehra’s community often faces a higher rate of diseases like diabetes and heart disease and having this resource in their language will make it more accessible to her community and help save lives.

Zehra added: “Everyone needs to know how to perform CPR. It is so important we teach first aid in peoples own language, like Urdu. “Learning all of these skills has helped me cope with what happened with my grandmother and contribute something positive to this world. By raising awareness in my community, I am making myself useful and helping increase accessibility.”