Man who tried to save Hillsborough victim tells her parents: 'I did my very best for Sarah, she was not alone'

Sarah Hicks, 19, died in the Hillsborough disaster. Credit: PA Wire

By Damon Green: ITV News Correspondent

The jury at the Hillsborough Inquests has been told that Sarah Hicks showed "no signs of life" when volunteers tried to revive her on the pitch at Hillsborough.

The 19-year-old died after being caught in the crush with her younger sister Vicki in April 1989.

Russell Greaves, a policeman who attended the match at Hillsborough as a spectator, told the court how he carried Sarah onto the pitch and began trying to resuscitate her.

He told the court that he had been trained in CPR, and cleared her airways and checked for a pulse before beginning mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"There was no pulse, no vital signs at all."

Questioned by the coroner's counsel, Christina Lambert QC, Mr Greaves recalled the moment her sister was taken away.

"I remember Vicki being placed in the ambulance," he told the court. "The intention was to place Sarah in the ambulance, but it drove off."

Mr Greaves helped carry Sarah to the gymnasium at Hillsborough, in the hope that she would be collected by another ambulance. But a medical team told him that she had died.

"Sarah was laid on the ground. I closed her eyes."

Trevor Hicks lost his daughters in the tragedy. Credit: PA Wire

Mr Greaves helped carry Sarah to the gymnasium at Hillsborough, in the hope that she would be collected by another ambulance. But a medical team told him that she had died.

"Sarah was laid on the ground. I closed her eyes."

But Michael Mansfield QC, for the Hicks family, suggested that a faint pulse may have been difficult for him to detect.

Mr Greaves said he felt for a pulse several times for at least 30 seconds each time.

Addressing Sarah's parents, Trevor and Jenni, directly, he said: "I did my very best for Sarah, I could not do any more. Sarah was with someone who cared, and Sarah was not alone."