21-year-old receptionist praised for saving man's life in 'brave act of instinct'

A 21-year-old hotel receptionist has been praised for saving a man's life in a "brave act of instinct."

Grace Makin, 21, has worked at The George Hotel in Amesbury for the past two years and has been awarded the Group Hero of the Year award for performing CPR and saving a man's life.

The George Hotel is run by The Coaching Inn Group, and Grace was presented with the award at the company's annual awards event.

The incident happened in January, when Grace was still 20-years-old. It was about a quarter to 11 at night, and a member of staff informed Grace that one of the residents wasn't looking right and she suspected a heart attack.

Grace acted quickly and found an elderly man not breathing, and she immediately started CPR.

Assistant Manager at The George Hotel, Abigail Churcher, said: "Grace had taken an infant and child first aid course not long before the incident took place, and she acted in a brave act of instinct.

"She made sure someone had called an ambulance, and a defibrillator was found. The team were all significantly older than her, but she was taking control and staying calm."

Ms Churcher explained that at the awards, every hotel nominates a staff member of the year, and they had put Grace forward for her bravery.

The George Hotel in Amesbury (Image: Abigail Churcher)

She said: "We had put Grace forward for the hotel winner, but on the night, she ended up winning the Group Hero of the Year Award throughout all of our hotels.

"She was presented the award by our Head of Operations, Tom Reeve, and this awards evening marked the 30th anniversary of the Coaching Inn Group, making her win even more special.

"We are all overwhelmingly proud of her and her commitment to the company ethos 'Hospitality From The Heart', and the whole team here in Amesbury are really pleased for her."

The man was treated in the hospital and made a full recovery. He is a regular at The George Hotel in Amesbury, and he came back to thank Grace for what she did.

Ms Churcher said whenever he comes in now, he always loves to have a catch-up with Grace.