Mexborough and Swinton Times December 16, 1939
First Aid “V.C.”
Mexboro’ Pit Worker’s Distinction
Saved Man’s Life
For saving a man’s life in the pit by his promptitude resource and skill, a nineteen-years-old Mexborough Ambulance man is on Saturday to receive the award known as the Yorkshire Miners’ “V.C.”
He is Mr. Sam Hulse, elder son of Mr. and Hulse, 48, Helena Street, Mexborough, who is employed on the haulage at Wath Main Colliery. The award, which is to be made at the Arcadian Cafe, Barnsley, following the Lane Fox Shield final is the result of strong recommendation from the doctors at Mexborough Montagu Hospital who undertook the treatment of a seriously injured man. They were full of praise for the skill with which the treatment had been carried out in the pit and were astonished to learn that the ambulance man responsible was (at the time) only eighteen and a first-year student of ambulance work.
Perhaps they would have been even more surprised had they known that until he was fourteen Hulse could not stand the sight of blood. He frankly confessed that fact to a “Times” representative yesterday But, side by side with this boyhood fear was always an ambition to be a skilled ambulance man.
In Shield-Winning Team
He was seventeen when he took up first aid and he showed such marked promise that in 1938 he was included in Wath Main’s Lane Fox Shield team and helped them to win the trophy He is the holder of two certificates, and does not mind admitting that he is very inexperienced. “In fact,” he said, “this case was the first actual one I had ever treated.”
The “V.C.” is officially described as Award “A” for Yorkshire Colliery ambulance work, and it is believed that Hulse is the youngest person ever to win it. Of all the experienced and highly skilled ambulance men at Wath Main he will be the only holder of the honour, for the award is very rarely made; the “V.C.’s” distributed during the last twenty years could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
The accident which gave Hulse the opportunity to prove his mettle occurred at Wath Main on Feb. 14th this year, when Mr. F. B Fairhurst received serious head injuries that left the brain exposed. A large piece of coal struck and dislodged a prop and there was a fall of dirt that hit Fairhurst across the forehead. Hulse, who at the time was a conveyor switch boy immediately began his treatment and stemmed the flow of blood. He got help and conveyed the man to the surface and later accompanied him to the Montagu Hospital in the ambulance.
After considering the report of the doctors, the Yorkshire Collieries’ Ambulance League at their last meeting, decided to confer their highest honour on the boy.
According to the doctors’ testimony Hulse’s skill and promptitude saved Fairhurst’s life.