MARION Jones was deep in song lyrics to Pink’s Just Give Me a Reason when her truck came to a dramatic halt.
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The Wagga woman came across a horror accident on the Hume Highway near Jugiong.
The accident – in which a truck ploughed into the back of a van – claimed the life of a 26-year-old Canadian national.
“It was surreal,” Ms Jones said.
“It was someone’s daughter on the road and I just had to do my best.”
Ms Jones, who was one of the first responders, performed CPR on the woman she knew only as Julia.
“The whole time I was doing CPR I was thinking of my daughter,” she said. “It’s one of those things that just sticks in your head forever.”
Julia died on Valentine’s Day at Canberra Hospital - four days after the collision.
“Even though she wasn’t my family, mentally it is hard,” she said. “I still feel great sadness.”
Ms Jones has turned her grief into a public push to raise awareness of CPR education.
While Ms Jones said she was privileged to learn resuscitation techniques as a child, the accident opened her eyes to the fact that “so many people don’t bother anymore”.
“We can save them, but can they save us?” she said.
“People need to be aware that they can save lives. It could be your mother, your sister, your child.”
Ms Jones said she was the only one on the scene that knew how to perform CPR.
The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) is aware of low CPR take-up rates. In response, the peak lifesaving organisation adapted CPR education to make it “non-technical”, even going so far as to make mouth-to-mouth optional.
RLSS Riverina regional manager Mick Dasey said the organisation has tried to counter the “alarming” but “broad-based” statistic that only 10 per cent of people know what to do in a medical emergency.
“It is alarming because have a look at the next time you’re in a group of 10 people,” he said.
“Only one of those people will know how to save your life if you collapse. That’s when it becomes scary.”
Mr Dasey said the organisation was targeting children in its efforts to generate awareness.
“It’s a bit like riding a bike. Once you learn you will never forget,” he said. “If we can get them at a younger age it becomes a life skill.”
Ms Jones said she has returned to the site of the accident three times since it happened.
“It takes a natural disaster to bring people together – like the Wagga floods,” she said. "Why should it be like that? We should always look out for one another."