A HAMPSHIRE publican and first aider who saved the life of an elderly customer at her establishment has been shortlisted as a finalist in the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Awards.

Hannah Taplin, from Longstock, is shortlisted in the Workplace Hero category in the awards after she noticed one of her regulars at the White Hart pub, in High Street, Stockbridge, was suffering signs of a stroke and immediately took control of the situation.

The pub assistant manager comforted Hugo Falwasser, and continued to monitor him until paramedics took him to Royal Hampshire County Hospital where he was found to have suffered a heart attack.

Hannah said: “Whilst it was quite scary to deal with at the time, I’m really glad we were able to help him.

“We really care about our customers, so seeing Hugo for the first time when he came out of hospital was quite emotional.

"He’d already sent a big bunch of flowers to say thank you, but I don’t really feel I did anything special – I just did what I’m trained to do.

"He needed help, so I tried to get it for him as quickly as possible.”

Hannah will attend in the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Award ceremony at the Hilton London Bankside on Thursday, 28 September.

The annual awards, this year hosted by Andover’s own Katie Piper, sets out to recognise the nation’s life savers and community heroes.

London and South regional director for St John Ambulance Elizabeth Harper said: “Everyday Heroes is the very essence of what St John Ambulance is about – ordinary people doing extraordinary things through first aid.

“We believe that no one should suffer for a lack of first aid, and the actions of our finalists prove that first aid really can be the difference between life and death.”