Yahoo News Houghton dad who thought he was 'invincible' thanks ambulance crew who saved him after cardiac arrest
A dad from Houghton-le-Spring has been reunited with the ambulance crew who saved his life when he had a cardiac arrest last November.
In November 2024, father-of-two Graham Avery felt "under-the weather" and was breathless, had a pain in his left arm and a "heavy feeling in his legs. His partner Marie raised concerns and called for an ambulance.
Just as the crew arrived to tend to him, Graham's condition deteriorated and the 60-year-old went into cardiac arrest. Newly-qualified paramedic Hayley Francis and her crewmate Graham Stones quickly realised Graham needed urgent help.
READ MORE: North East NHS worker lands EuroMillions New Year win minutes before midnight
Hayley, who joined the North East Ambulance Service in 2023, said: "When arriving on scene I remember being greeted by Marie at the front door who showed us to Graham. I quickly realised that he was going into cardiac arrest in front of me and needed immediate interventions.
"When we go to a cardiac arrest call, we work tirelessly to give the patient the best possible outcome."
A cardiac arrest sees the heart stop pumping and starves the body's vital organs of oxygen. It's different from a heart attack, though a heart attack can cause a cardiac arrest.
Hayley immediately began carrying out CPR while crewmate Graham applied a defibrillator. The shock supplied by the defibrillator, thankfully, brought Graham around. After further ambulance crew were dispatched to help, Graham was taken to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle where a stent was fitted.
He remembered the traumatic situation, saying: "This was either a warning or a second chance. Whatever it is, I will grasp it with both hands. I always thought I was invincible but none of us are. I just wanted to meet the crew in person and say thank you – it's the least I could do."
After being reunited with the patient she helped save, Hayley concluded: "We don’t always find out the outcome of the patient and that’s why a reunion like this is so special to us."
NEAS's emergency responders warned a a cardiac arrest can strike "anybody, at any time" and highlighted that for every minute without CPR being performed and a defibrillator used, the chance of someone's survival drops 10%. Start statistics already warn that someone suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest only has a one in ten chance of survival.
It only takes a few minutes to learn CPR. To find out more, visit the ambulance service website.
