Aviation student wins recognition for saving lives| News

December 2023

Aviation student receives national award for saving lives outside cabin crew job

By Melanie Hall

Share post:

Read time: approx 5 mins

An aviation undergraduate has received a national award - and military recognition - for saving lives outside his job as cabin crew for Ryanair.

Charlie Little is experienced in performing CPR on passengers suffering on-board heart attacks in his role as a part-time flight attendant based at Stansted Airport, which he juggles with his Aviation and Airport Management BA (Hons) studies at University College Birmingham, his goal being to work in air traffic control.

But it was his life-saving actions outside his job in the past three years that earned him a Certificate of Resuscitation from the Humane Society, as well as a Coin of Excellence from the Army Cadets, which he joined aged 13 and is where he began his CPR and first aid training.

He was put forward for the certificate for coming to the rescue of a woman who collapsed unconscious in Charlie’s local pub car park when he was just 18. While he immediately called the paramedics after finding the woman in her forties unconscious on the ground, they had been unable to get to her because of a tree which had fallen on the village back roads following a storm.

Charlie raced to fetch his resuscitation kit from his car boot, instructed his friend to locate a defibrillator at the church next door, then performed CPR on the woman for 55 minutes until the Air Ambulance arrived.

During this time, her heart stopped six times. But thanks to Charlie’s quick actions, she finally stabilised and was airlifted to hospital.

“I was awarded the Humane Society certificate in 2020, but wasn’t able to officially receive it back then because of Covid. It was an honour to be presented with it at the passing out ceremony, but never expected to get the Coin of Excellence too, it’s quite a rare thing.”

Charlie Little Aviation and Airport Management BA (Hons)

The military award recognised nine other times Charlie has saved someone’s life in the past three years. This included an incident where he pulled four passengers to safety following a three-car motorway collision he encountered on his way to work at Stansted Airport.

Charlie, who had already saved three lives by the time he was 16, including a man who had had a fit and collapsed at Euston train station, said it was lovely to be recognised and he had not been expecting the military recognition.

“I was awarded the Humane Society certificate in 2020, but wasn’t able to officially receive it back then because of Covid,” he said. “It was an honour to be presented with it at the passing out ceremony, but never expected to get the Coin of Excellence too, it’s quite a rare thing.”

Charlie is now building on the skills he needs to work under pressure in air traffic control at University College Birmingham. He said he chose the University over other institutions in the UK and even one in Finland because of the experience of lecturers and the facilities.

“University College Birmingham appealed to me as it had an amazing aviation suite, which would teach me so much about the aircraft. It’s very much like the real thing,” he said.

“And the experience of the lecturers was immense. They have worked in many fields covering all areas of aviation from cabin crew to operations, and in different parts of the industry. Once I’d started my degree, they gave me the confidence to go for all sorts of different opportunities. With their support, I was accepted on British Airways’ EuroFlyer cabin crew graduate scheme, although I have now decided to top up my degree, so will be applying again next year.”

University College Birmingham is a leading provider of specialist training for the tourism and aviation industries. Discover more about the range of courses in our Department of Hospitality and Tourism.