Practice Articles 2
Practice 2: Stranger Saves Man on High Street
Good Samaritan saves Oxford local from heart attack
58-year-old Simon Connor suffered from a heart attack on Oxford’s High Street in January 2025 and was saved by a good Samaritan who rushed to his aid and administered CPR.
Connor recounts his experience as “one minute I was casually walking along, looking in shop windows, and then everything went black.” Thankfully, the stranger, who was later learned to be Susan Derry, a 22-year-old trainee nurse, rushed to his aid and saved his life with CPR.
Once Derry knew Connor was in the clear, she faded into the crowd, and an ambulance arrived to take Connor to John Radcliffe Hospital.
Connor, now fully recovered, praised and thanked the hospital staff, saying he “can’t thank them enough.”
Connor was unaware of who the good Samaritan was who had saved his life, so he subsequently placed ads in the newspaper and on social media to find out who had saved his life.
Derry’s mother saw the post on Facebook and replied, leading to a meeting between Connor and Derry.
Through the power of social media, Connor and Derry met for coffee today at a café on High Street near to the scene of Simon’s collapse. They had coffee, Derry marveling at how “he [Connor] looks so much better than the last time I saw him.” Connor, forever grateful, said, “I’m so pleased I finally got to say thank you.”
Connor, inspired by Derry’s quick jump to aid him in his state of need, has begun training to become a First Aider.
Journalist: Finley Hamilton
“Guardian Angel” Appears in Time to Save Oxford Man’s Health
“One minute I was casually walking along, looking in shop windows, and then everything went black” recounts Simon Connor, 58, who suffered from a heart attack in January 2025 while strolling on Oxford’s High Street. However, he seemed to have a guardian angel by his side, who later was unmasked as Susan Derry, the 22 year old trainee nurse who administered CPR and provided aid and attention to Simon. Due to the attention Susan gave to him Simon was rushed to John Radcliffe hospital, but at this time, his “guardian angel” had disappeared into the crowd, her identity still unknown to the hospital patient.
Months later, Simon fully recovered due to the “impeccable” care at John Radcliffe hospital, whom Simon could not “thank enough” for their attention. Nevertheless, the identity of the person who saved him remained unknown, so Simon used the power of news paper advertisement and social media to unmask his savior. Eventually, Susan’s mother saw one of the media posts and replied, telling Simon it was her daughter that saved the 58 year old man’s life.
Six months later, Simon met Susan for the first time in person, and they shared a coffee at a café on High Street, near the sight of Simon’s unfortunate heart attack. Susan Derry reflects “he looks a lot better than when I last saw him”, as Simon Connor expresses his gratitude towards his unmasked guardian angel, “I’m so pleased I finally got to say thank you”. In light of Susan’s virtuous act, Simon is now training to be a first aider.
Journalist: Lauren Donath
Selfless Stranger to the rescue:
Man on High Street is saved by stranger after heart attack:
58 year old Simon Connor faces a fate that every adult begins to fear after their 50s. He had a heart attack in the middle of one of the most bustling streets in oxford. In this case that fact was probably a good thing thanks to the selfless stranger that performed CPR on him and saved his life.
Simon Connor was strolling around Oxford when suddenly he started facing the symptoms of an oncoming heart attack. As he put it “One minute I was casually walking along, looking in shop windows, and then everything went black”.
After Simon had collapsed to the ground, miraculously, a stranger who later revealed herself as ‘Susan Derry’ trainee nurse, came to the rescue and performed CPR on Simon, saving his life. An ambulance promptly arrived and took Simon to the local John Radcliffe hospital where he fortunately had a full recovery.
The immediate next thing on Simon's mind was to find and thank the nobel stranger that had saved his life. After posting ads on the paper and social media the young Susan Derry aged 22 was found after her mother identified her on a Facebook post
This goes to show the power of social media and how, when used for the correct things, can be incredibly beneficial and useful.
Susan and Simon met today and shared a coffee near the same place the heart attack occurred. They were both glad to have met up: “He looks a lot better than when I last saw him” said Susan, Simon stated: “I’m so pleased I finally got to say thank you”.
It is also important to thank the incredible hospital staff that nurtured Simon back to health and possibly also encouraged him to start training to become a first aider.
Journalist: Isabella Vélez
Meeting My Saviour
After recovering from a heart attack, Simon Connor finally got to thank his saviour, Susan Derry.
In January of 2025, 58 year old Simon Connor had a heart attack on Oxford’s High Street. Seeing this alarming scene, strangers rushed to help him and one even administered CPR which was then found out to save Connor’s life. Connor reported: “One minute I was casually walking along, looking in shop windows, and then everything went blank”.
After the arrival of the ambulance, Connor was taken to the John Radcliffe hospital and the stranger who saved his life disappeared into the crowd.
Connor, now fully recovered, showed his gratitude to the hospital staff who essentially saved his life: “Can’t thank them enough”. Wanting to extend his gratitude, Connor went looking for the person who kept him alive, he placed ads on social media and on the local new paper. Susan Derry, a trainee nurse aged 22, was found out to be the saviour due to her mother’s FaceBook presence and involvement.
Today, seven months later, Connor and Derry shared a coffee at café on High Street near the scene of Simon’s collapse. Derry said: “He looks a lot better than when I last saw him”. Connor gratefully mentioned: “I’m so pleased I finally got to say thank you”. As an inspiration of this incident, Simon Connor is now training to be a first aider to help others just like how Susan Derry helped him.
Journalist: Yusra Khalil
Man re-encounters with first-aid nurse who saved his life after a sudden heart attack on High Street.
Simon Connor -aged 58- reencountered the first-aid nurse who saved his life after having a heart attack on Oxford’s High Street in January 2025.
Connor was “casually walking along, looking in shop windows, and then everything went black.”
Luckily for Simon, a stranger rushed to help and administered CPR, saving his life.
An ambulance arrived to the scene and took Simon to John Radcliffe Hospital, where he fully recovered. He praised the care of the hospital staff, explaining that he “can’t thank them enough”.
Nonetheless, the stranger had disappeared into the crowd and left Simon looking for answers.
He placed ads in the newspapers and posted on social media in an effort to find the stranger who saved his life.
Susan Derry - trainee nurse aged 22 - was eventually found after her mother saw Simon’s post on Facebook and replied to the post, highlighting the power of social media to construct human connections.
Simon met Susan for the first time today in person. They shared a coffee at a café on High Street, near the scene of Simon’s collapse, in a heartfelt moment of resilience and humanity.
After their heartfelt meeting, Susan stated that “he looked a lot better than when I last saw him” and praised Simon’s recovery.
Simon was feeling “so pleased that he finally got to say thank you”. He is now training to be a first aider and constantly honours Susan’s role in saving his life, describing her presence in the scene as a “miracle”.
Journalist: Regina Pannunzio
Heroic trainee nurse acts fast and saves heart attack victim
22 year old Susan Derry rushed to help 58 year old Simon Connor as he collapsed due to a heart attack on Oxford’s High Street.
In January 2025, 58 year old Simon Connor was wandering around Oxford Street High when he later collapsed due to the cause of a heart attack. Connor mentioned he was “casually walking along, looking in shop windows, and then everything turned black”.
A stranger saw him going through this situation and dashed to help by conducting CPR and later calling an ambulance. The person never revealed their identity or accompanied him to the hospital; the superhero vanished within the Oxfordian streets.
Moments after the unfortunate incident, he was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital and later recovered from the situation; however, Connor was clueless about the individual who saved his life. Consequently, during his recovery, Connor started to place ads in paper and started to publish social media posts to find out about the anonymous lifesaver whom he mentioned “Can’t thank them enough”.
Days passed since the jeopardizing experience took place, when Simon received a Facebook notification on his phone; the huge doubt that has been invading his head in the course of all of his days was finally answered.
The message came from a woman who said her daughter, Susan Derry who is currently a trainee nurse, performed this heroic act that saved his life. Eventually, Connor reached out to Susan and they finally met each other in a cafe located on High Street, the place where the incident took place.
The young trainee said: “He looks a lot better than when I last saw him”, pointing out that her actions not only saved a life but also inspired a complete stranger to continue the legacy of saving human lives, since Simon Connor is now currently training to become a first aider.
Journalist: Mariann Morales