Neighbour comes to aid of woman who took stroke

College lecturer, Peter McMullan, came to the rescue of Eleanor Cherry at her Willowfield Drive home last Tuesday morning.

"I'd been away for a few days and when I came back I spoke to a neighbour who said he had not seen her for a few days," Peter told the Times.

"I knocked her door and the windows but there was no reply. I could see that there were lights and heating on.

"There was a window at the back of her house open and I climbed in through it and found her lying on her back in the hall.

"I rang an ambulance immediately and they came and took her to hospital."

Peter added: "She was semi-conscious and did not really know what was going on. She had taken a stroke and was just lying there. She was not in very good shape."

Peter, who lectures in computer animation at the Northern Regional College in Ballymoney, said that Mrs Cherry was in her 80s.

"She is a lady who very much keeps to herself. She is still being treated in hospital."

Peter's quick-thinking saved Mrs Cherry's life and highlighted importance of people checking on their elderly neighbours from time to time.

He added that others neighbours had played their part in the incident.

A spokesperson for the Northern Health Trust yesterday described Mrs Cherry's condition as 'comfortable'.