Pam’s story

Pam Maggs is a former patient of Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC). This is her account of what it was like to experience a cardiac arrest in her own home.

On 7 September 2022, I woke up half an hour earlier than usual at 5am (I’m an early riser!). I went to the loo. I put the kettle on. I opened the back door for the dog, then I went into the living room. That’s when I suddenly felt very odd, not well at all and I lay down on the settee.

Floating in and out of consciousness

I either dreamt it or saw it, but the next thing I remember is seeing my beloved mum in the window (she had sadly passed away in 2005). In her Scottish accent she said very clearly, “Not yet!”

I came to and crawled up the stairs. I called out to Rob my husband, “Help me! I don’t know what’s wrong.” I got to the top of the stairs and Rob helped me into the bedroom. I sat on edge of bed.

I was floating in and out of consciousness and had my hands on the bed trying to keep myself upright; Rob was steadying me also. I suggested he call the doctor, but he over-ruled this and called the ambulance.

It didn’t occur to me that it was a heart problem

It felt like a really bad chest infection; a very heavy feeling and a bit of a struggle to breathe. I had no other symptoms. My heart wasn’t in my mind. I didn’t think it was a heart problem.

Two ambulances from South Western Ambulance Service Trust (SWASfT) arrived and I remember thinking it strange that the dog didn’t murmur when all these strange people came into the house. I was still on the edge of bed when they arrived.

A paramedic sprayed something under my tongue and asked me to chew a tablet. I said, “I’ll do as best as I can.”

Then I remember suddenly burning up and feeling sick. I still didn’t know what it was.
I felt pressure on my chest and realised a paramedic was attaching pads with electrodes. They asked me to sit in a special-looking chair so they could get me downstairs and outside into the ambulance. I sat down but as they started to strap me in (so I wouldn’t fall out), everything went black.

Paramedics and Critical Care Team bring me back

This is where I had another strange experience—what I saw next, I couldn’t have seen, but I was looking down at Rob on the stairs; he looked absolutely stunned, like the whole thing was out of his remit. I remember I felt very calm and very peaceful looking down at him. There was no pain, it was quiet, nice. The next thing I hear, “She’s come back, we’ve got her back.” And I thought, who’s left?

The Paramedics had got my heart beating again and shortly after, the team from GWAAC arrived—Dr Nicky, Dr Matt and Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care Callum. Someone in orange said, “Hello Pam, we’re going to put you on a scoop stretcher.”

They started to move me and I cried out because it really hurt my chest; I didn’t know at the time, but I’d had CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) for eight minutes and defibrillation. I had some broken ribs from the CPR. SPCC Callum later told me that they had to put me on the scoop stretcher to keep me level so my blood pressure did not drop further while I was being moved.

When I was in the ambulance, I remember my son Kieran appearing and saying, “It’s OK mum, they will take good care of you.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead (I had an oxygen mask on). Dr Nicky and SPCC Callum came in the ambulance with me to hospital. They gave me medication en route to increase my heart rate and blood pressure. I don’t remember the journey to hospital; the sirens were on and the GWAAC Team were working to keep me stable, but I didn’t hear anything. I do remember briefly waking up to see the hospital doors open, then I was out like a light again.

My hospital care

I remember being in a room with machinery above. I was shivering; it was so cold. I later learnt that it had to be cool to have the stent put in; if it’s too hot, the heart pumps faster. I asked, please can I have a blanket to keep me warm? They said, “Just give us a bit longer.”

The next thing I knew, all the machinery and monitors were covered in plastic. I thought, how did that happen in a moment? But it wasn’t a moment—they had turned everything off to let my heart kick back in. There had been insufficient blood and I had flatlined again. They got it sorted, got the stent in, warmed me up and got me down to the ward. Amazing!

I was on the ward for eight days. The most uncomfortable things were my five broken ribs from the CPR and my badly bruised arm from having the stent put in.

Coming to terms with my cardiac arrest

It’s always there, the worry that it could happen again. My doctor said I could have post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I said, I haven’t been to war. He said, “Your body has!”

I bought a book about what nearly dying teaches us about living. I’ve also learnt that only one in ten survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest. I was lucky. Thanks to the actions of Rob, the paramedics, GWAAC and the hospital staff, I’m still here and have a good life.

When I saw Georgia, one of the SWASfT Paramedics, and SPCC Callum at GWAAC’s airbase afterward, I said thank you so much for giving me my life back.

My visit to GWAAC

It was just marvellous to visit GWAAC’s airbase. Kieran and I were welcomed by the lovely Eloise Skidmore, GWAAC’s Supporter Engagement Coordinator. We sat down for a nice chat and a cup of tea while we waited for Paramedic Georgia and SPCC Callum to arrive.

The feelings of genuine care and honesty from GWAAC stuck with me from that visit. I said to SPCC Callum, I’m amazed you can remember what happened; he smiled and said, “I had to read the report to jog my memory, but I recognise you now.” I liked that. It reminded me that after helping me that day, he went on to help someone else—maybe another five or six people, and GWAAC’s Team do this every single day.

My visit to GWAAC has helped me understand that GWAAC’s specialist team are coming in to do anything and everything they possibly can. Our home CCTV footage shows the GWAAC Team coming into the house that day; they looked so calm yet purposeful. I will be eternally grateful.

I learnt that it had been a real team effort that day; the ambulance crew worked really hard too. The paramedic who first started doing CPR, was doing it upside down! He couldn’t get to my side because there wasn’t enough room on the bedroom floor, but he wanted to start immediately. I’m so glad he did!

What I’m looking forward to now

Kieran lights his house up at Christmas to raise money for GWAAC and I particularly enjoy visiting at this time of year. He says, if it weren’t for GWAAC, he wouldn’t have his mum!

The thing I’m most looking forward to in 2026, is going to my favourite show of all time— The Rocky Horror Show. It’s for my 70^th birthday celebration. It will be my ninth time (not that I’m counting), and I’m already planning my outfit.

The one thing I’d say to people

I’m here today because Rob immediately called 999, the paramedics recognised I was having a cardiac arrest and gave me CPR and defibrillation, the GWAAC team kept me stable and got me to a specialist heart hospital, and the hospital put in a stent and got me well again.

I’d encourage anyone to learn how to do CPR and find where their nearest defibrillator is so they know how to help in an emergency. And I’d say, please support GWAAC! They’re not part of the NHS and rely on donations to continue saving lives.