Would YOU know how to save your child's life? Shocking new TV ad shows father left powerless after son falls from a tree because he doesn't know first aid.

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A father watches in horror as his young son falls from a tree.
He has only turned his back for a moment to take a phone call, but his child is now lying unconscious on the ground, with blood seeping from his mouth.
This is the terrifying situation described in a heart-stopping new advertising campaign for St John Ambulance.
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St John Ambulance has created a new advertising campaign to encourage people to learn basic first aid. The commercial shows a young boy climbing a tree while his father is on the phone

The first aid charity is launching the campaign tomorrow in an attempt to encourage people to learn basic first aid.
The ad was created after a survey revealed that 41 per cent of Britons believe it would take the death of a loved one of make them learn first aid.
The research also showed that 55 per cent of parents lack the skills to save their child’s life in the event of a life-threatening emergency, and that 57 per cent of people would be too scared to do anything before paramedics arrived.
The advert begins with a woman washing up in her kitchen while gazing out of the window.
It then moves to show a father playing football with his son outside.
The father’s phone rings and he stops the game to take the call.

The boy then falls from the tree while his father's attention is momentarily distracted. He lands on the ground pale and with blood on his face

The father panics and screams for help as he does not know what to do to help his unconscious son. Like 55 per cent of British parents, he has no first aid training so does not know how to help

While he is on the phone, his young son climbs a tree.
The branch he is standing on breaks and he plummets to the ground, ending up lying pale and bleeding on the grass.
The camera returns to the woman inside who is revealed to be a St John Ambulance volunteer and is shown rushing outside.
The viewer is led to believe that she is running to help the injured child, but when she gets outside it becomes apparent that she is actually going to gather in her washing from the washing line as it has started to rain.

'Save the boy' POWERFUL new ad by St John Ambulance

While the father panics, a St John Ambulance volunteer is shown running outside. The viewer is led to believe she is going to help the boy, but she is actually going to bring her laundry in from the rain. The narrator points out that St John Ambulance volunteers can't always be there when there is an emergency

The father is left alone in a park with his injured son not knowing what to do while he waits for an ambulance. At the same time, viewers are invited to learn basic first aid by visiting the St John Ambulance website

At this point, the narrator explains that St John Ambulance volunteers cannot be there every time there is an emergency.
Meanwhile, in an empty park the boy is seen unconscious while his father is screaming for help, as viewers are implored to find out how to save the boy.
Viewers are urged to visit the St John Ambulance website to be taken through an interactive experience, where they can save the boy.
The website allows the viewer to help the father carry out first aid and move the boy into the right position to enable him to survive.

St John Ambulance has created an interactive tool in its website which shows people how to do basic first aid. It shows the father checking the area around his son is safe, seeing whether he is responsive, and then checking whether he is breathing (pictured)

The first aid tool on the website then allows the viewer to get the father to put his son in the recovery position so his airway remains open

In doing so, they learn what to do if they ever find themselves in the same situation.
The ad was the brainchild of the award-winning director Dougal Wilson who also created John Lewis’s Christmas commercials and 3’s moonwalking pony.
Mr Wilson says he leant his support to the campaign after a young boy asked for his help when his grandfather suffered a suspected heart attack and he found himself powerless to help.
He said: ‘When I was asked to get involved in this campaign I was already committed to another project but it proved hard for me to turn down.
‘Someone needed my help but I didn’t know first aid, and I will always feel I could have done more.

The website's interactive tool ends with a more calm father calling 999 as he is confident that he has done everything he can to help save his son

‘First aid is so simple to learn and I hope this film encourages more people to be the difference between life and death.’
Sue Killen, St John Ambulance Chief Executive, said: ‘It’s devastating that over two-fifths of people say it would take something as severe as the death of a loved one to make them learn first aid.
‘Unfortunately, our volunteers can’t be everywhere so we’ve developed an online experience to help more people be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.
‘We don’t want anyone to be helpless in a first aid situation especially when learning lifesaving skills is so simple.

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