A retired police officer who suffered two cardiac arrests, including one in the ambulance on the way to hospital, has thanked the ‘superheroes’ who saved his life.
Geoff Padmore, 74, was making a cup of tea at his home in Southwell at 7am on 18 May, when he collapsed onto the kitchen floor.
Geoff’s wife, Kay, has been at a talk by the Southwell Defibrillator Group just weeks before and on hearing Geoff collapse she was able to put him into the recovery position and call 999.
Geoff said: “I was filling the teapot up, and that was the last thing I remember. When I woke up my wife was sitting over me and was talking to someone on 999.
Kay, a retired headteacher, said: “I heard the crash and came running in to find him on the floor.
“At the talk they said ‘It’s better to do something than nothing so I rang 999 and put him in the recovery position.
“I didn’t have time to panic. It was all a whirlwind and the ambulance crews were here in no time at all.
Paramedic Christopher Long arrived in an ambulance car, shortly followed by Callum Urquhart and Michael Place in an ambulance.
Geoff’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he went into cardiac arrest in the back of the ambulance on the way to Kings Mill Hospital.
Callum, 25, who has been a technician at EMAS for four years, explained that he had been watching Geoff’s monitor when it suddenly flatlined.
He said: “Five minutes down the road his heart stopped. I shouted to Michael to stop, and collapsed the trolley so Geoff was lying flat and that movement brought him back after 10 seconds.”
Michael, who has been a paramedic with EMAS for 22 years, pulled over and got into the back of the ambulance to administer drugs to speed up his heart rate so it didn’t stop again.
Once Geoff was stable, they continued the journey to the hospital.
While having a pacemaker fitted, Geoff suffered another cardiac arrest on the operating table, but doctors were able to revive him again.
He said: “I was waiting to be moved onto the operating table. I could see the monitor and my heart rate was 34 beats per minute, and then it dropped a bit more and then I don’t remember anything else.”
Geoff, who worked as a policeman for 30 years, has made a full recovery and has thanked the team from EMAS for saving his life.
He said: “I am alive and standing up, and it is all thanks to these dedicated members of the ambulance service. They are superheroes.
“If they hadn’t got here as fast as they did, I might not be here today. I feel extremely lucky and very grateful.
“I don’t remember much of the day so it is nice to meet them properly.
“I was back home the next day and I have recovered well. It is almost as if it hadn’t happened at all.”