David Lines (39), husband and father of two from Scunthorpe was putting his bins out at the end of his driveway on 9 April 2015 when he collapsed and stopped breathing.
EMAS Paramedic Chris Long was off-duty at home but as a volunteer medical first responder had made himself available to respond to emergencies within his community. Chris was notified about David’s collapse and was on scene within minutes to start providing lifesaving Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation.
Chris was soon backed up by a team of EMAS staff; Michael Collins, Nick Jenson and David Felton.
Yesterday David, wife Michelle and two sons; Corey and William were reunited with Chris at what could have possibly been the safest place in the county - Rescue Day at 7 Lakes Country Park, Crowle.
Hundreds of staff from across all emergency services and rescue teams came together to educate the public on safety messages, to give live demonstrations evidencing the skills they have and challenges faced on scene at large incidents, and to raise vital funds for the local community. Funds raised at the 2015 event enabled 12 Community Public Access Defibrillators to be placed around North Lincolnshire.
David said: “It’s great to be here today and I would like to say a huge thankyou to everybody at EMAS, especially Chris for responding on his day off. You saved my life.”
Wife Michelle said: “We will never be able to thank you enough, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
David now has a pacemaker fitted and enjoys life with his family thanks to his wife Michelle starting the life-saving chain of survival by making the right 999 call.
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