A homeless pregnant woman was rushed to hospital after she was found unconscious by volunteers on O’ Connell Bridge in Dublin.
Inner City Helping the Homeless spokesman John Ross, who was one of the volunteers who helped her, said the woman- who looked about six months pregnant- was slumped down and not moving when they found her about 11pm last Thursday.
“A homeless chap called us, he had noticed the lady was still for some time,” he said.
“She was unresponsive and struggling to breath. We were really worried about her airways. She was coming in and out of consciousness as we helped her. We put her in the recovery position, ad cleared her airways.”
Mr Ross said the volunteers rang emergency services straight away and made her as comfortable as possible.
“Every second counts in a situation like that,” he said.
“We did get a fright. God knows how long she’d been there. It was a Thursday night, hundreds possibly thousands of people would have passed her by.”
Mr Ross said the woman, about 24-years-old, was wearing a jacket and had two bags beside her.
He said the fire brigade was first to arrive and gave her oxygen to help her regain consciousness.
Mr Ross said the ambulance arrived minutes later and rushed her to St James’s Hospital.
“When we rang the next day we were told she was responsive and stable. That’s all the information they can give with the data protection,” he said.
“We don’t know the circumstances that lead to her being there. We hope she’ll be ok.”
The same night the group recorded the highest ever number of people sleeping on the streets at 154, up 39 from the night before.
Mr Ross said when the organisation first started in November, there were 64 people sleeping rough.
“More and more people are becoming homeless, young and old. It’s awful for people. The crisis is worsening,” he said.
