A 63 year old woman has thanked Swindon officers for saving her life after she suffered a stroke at her home in Pinehurst.

At approximately 4.15pm on Thursday 31^st March 2011, Wiltshire Police received a phone call from the woman’s neighbours who had become concerned that they had not seen her since the previous day which was out of character.

PCs Sean Magee and Nicholas Codd attended the address. As they received no response to their knocking and calling, the officers called for back-up to gain entry to the house.

PC Iain Crouch came to their aid and using specialist equipment managed to force the door open. PC Codd then used a multi-tool to remove the security chain on the other side.

The officers found the woman lying on the floor and gasping for breath. They quickly put her in the recovery position, cleared her airway and called an ambulance.

Upon arrival, the ambulance crew were very concerned for the woman and had to administer emergency treatment before she was stable enough to be transported to hospital.

The woman had suffered a stroke and several other complications which had she been left on the floor for much longer would have caused her death. Fortunately she has now been released from hospital and is recovering back at home.

The woman has since thanked officers for their help and for saving her life.

Temporary Inspector Looey Law said: “These three officers used their initiative to gain entry to the house, which was not a simple task to do given that there was a security chain on the other side of the door, which of course is designed to keep out strangers.

I am confident that this action together with their quick thinking in administering first aid helped to save this woman’s life.”