A paramedic saving the life of a Lincolnshire journalist with a defibrillator has inspired a bid to fund lifesaving devices.
Cleethorpes Chronicle Journalist Vince McDonagh was at work last November when he collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Paramedic Lee Hastie was on the scene within two minutes and used a defibrillator to shock Vince’s heart back into a rhythm. Ambulance crew, Paramedic Mally Ross and Technician Jamie Huntington, then took Vince to Castle Hill Hospital where he had bypass surgery.
Since his cardiac arrest, Vince and staff members at the Cleethorpes Chronicle have realised the importance of defibrillators. With the help of the local community, Vince and his colleagues have managed to raise enough money to place four public access defibrillators around the town. These are defibrillators which will be accessible 24/7.
It is hoped that by adding more local defibrillators Cleethorpes will be an extra safe resort for many tourists and residents, as they will never be more than 500m from a lifesaving piece of equipment.
Vince said: “The ambulance service doesn’t get enough credit for their work, we take them for granted. We don’t think about them until we need them but I cannot thank Lee, Mally and Jamie enough, they are amazing.”
Lee said: “It’s a big enough thank you to see Vince at work and doing well, knowing his wife still has a husband and he’s able to share many more memories with his family.”
Mally added: “It’s nice to see the final outcome from a patient and how our actions have impacted on their life. We often we take a patient to A&E and never see them again. Vince is now doing well and the defibrillators he has placed will have a huge benefit to the community.”
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