Ryanair passenger "saves child's life" in mid-air emergency

PA

A nurse who saved a child's life on a Ryanair flight has been praised for performing a mid-air "miracle".

Virginia Valle, 27, from Malaga, was flying to Dusseldorf on New Year's Eve when a young boy in one of the rows in front of her started having a convulsion.

According to reports in Spanish news outlet Sur, an emergency announcement came over the tannoy about the boy, whose age has not been confirmed. Virginia quickly stepped in.

She spotted the boy, who was close to unconsciousness, lying in the aisle. As his distressed parents spoke only Italian and French, there was a communication problem to begin with.

But Virginia assessed the situation and quickly managed to bring his dangerously high temperature down with a paracetamol suppository. She kept his head still and instructed the boy's father to hold his son's tongue to prevent him from choking on it.

Within a few minutes, the child's temperature started to come down.

"It was such a relief - and half the plane gave me a round of applause", she told Olive Press.

She admitted that the biggest problem was having to fight off other passengers who were trying to help.

"The father kept telling me that I had saved the life of his son," she told Sur. " Even the commander came to thank me. I'm not used to that, because I consider it my job and my duty."

The nurse, who was only travelling on the flight because there had been a mix-up with her ticket, said she was pleased that her New Year plans had been messed up.

"In the end, I was glad that there had been a mistake with my ticket. I'm an agnostic, and I don't usually believe in those things, but I think that fate put me on that flight. It was something of a miracle," she said.

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