Sue Sturgess, 53 from Leicester began to feel unwell after a morning shopping with her son Will on 29 August 2018.
What started as a general feeling of unwellness turned into something Sue and her friend visiting at the time couldn’t ignore.
Knowing their mum’s history of heart problems, Sue’s son Will and daughter Hollie, who are both trained in CPR, monitored her as she became short of breath, lost colour and had little to no blood pressure. At this point they took action and called 999.
Ambulance crew Iain Peyton and Sarah Quigley arrived within minutes. They found Sue had a very slow heartbeat and at one point her heart stopped completely.
The crew got Sue back and immediately transported her to Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Iain said: “Sue’s heart rate was the slowest I have ever seen so we knew we had to get her to hospital straight away.”
Sue who was suffering a suspected heart attack then went into cardiac arrest another three times within the next four hours with doctors telling her family she wasn’t expected to survive.
But thanks to the rapid response of Iain and Sarah and the decisive action of her son and daughter, Sue is on the road to recovery.
In the emotional reunion this week at Sue’s home with her family around her, she said:
“Without my children, Will and Hollie recognising my symptoms were different to others and the crew’s rapid response, I wouldn’t be here today.
“When Iain and Sarah arrived they knew immediately that something wasn’t right. I can’t thank them enough. They saved my life.
“The doctors told my family they didn’t expect me to survive and nurses couldn’t believe it when they saw me again in Critical Care Unit. They thought they would never see me again.”
Iain added: “The fact that both Sue’s son and daughter recognised a change in her symptoms compared to a normal episode with her heart is so important.
“If they hadn’t have acted as quickly as they did, things could have been very different.
“It is especially important that they are also both trained in CPR, it’s an essential skill for anyone to have.”
For more information on how to do CPR, visit the British Heart Foundation's website.