Ann’s story

On 14 March 2024, Ann, a part-time teacher and grandmother of four, was enjoying a day off at home in Cheltenham when she started to feel unwell. At lunchtime she popped next door to her daughter’s house to bath the dogs after taking them for a walk, when she started getting chest pains. Ann called her doctor and was advised to call 111. She then called her daughter Sarah, who was at work.

Sarah remembers the conversation well: “Mum seemed alright on the phone to me, just a bit out of breath. She told me not to come home. She said, ‘No, no I’ll be alright. The ambulance is coming there is nothing you can do.”

However, Sarah left work immediately, arriving home just at the point when Ann collapsed.

“When mum collapsed, she made a horrendous noise.”

The phone rang and Sarah answered it; it was the ambulance crew on their way. They told Sarah to roll Ann over so they could talk her through how to do CPR, but Sarah couldn’t move her because Ann was stuck in the doorway. Sarah panicked and ran outside to find help. She found their postman walking up the drive.

The postman happened to be returning to check on Ann at the end of his round. Ann said, “He thought I looked a bit grey when he dropped off a parcel earlier in the day so he thought he’d call back in and check on me. It’s all quite miraculous really. He popped back at just the right time.”

Sarah and Postman Shane performed CPR until the ambulance arrived. The paramedics took over and Sarah recalls, “I was watching them working hard to save Mum, but it felt like a lost cause to me. When I was doing it, I was getting nothing back. I thought Mum was dead.”

While despairing on the inside, Sarah didn’t show it. Paramedic Abbie remembers, “Sarah was a bit like a cheerleader. She was chanting, ‘She’s really strong. She’s too strong. Don’t give up.’”

Ann didn’t give up and neither did the team who tried to save her. They used a defibrillator several times to try to shock Ann's heart back into action. They got her pulse back but then lost it.

Ambulance crew call Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC)

Paramedic Abbie said, “We call GWAAC for advice for the bigger jobs, especially those we don’t see that often. It takes the weight off our shoulders a little. We phoned Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care (SPCC) Callum. He gave advice and it worked.”

But when the paramedics struggled to maintain Ann’s pulse, SPCC Callum jumped into one of GWAAC’s critical care cars and was quickly at the scene.

On arrival, SPCC Callum set up the Lucas Machine so Ann could continue to receive automatic CPR while he and the paramedics provided other critical treatment.

During a recent visit to GWAAC’s airbase, SPCC Callum told Ann, “We inserted a tube into your airway to breathe for you. Once your pulse was sustained, we administered sedation, analgesia and put you into an induced coma so we could put you on a ventilator which allowed us to optimise your oxygen levels and blood pressure to protect your brain and get you safely to hospital.”

Paramedic Abbie recalls, “We were working to save Ann for 45 mins to an hour. It felt like a well-run scenario. Everyone had a role and we worked well as a team. Ann was conveyed to Gloucester Royal Hospital and SPCC Callum travelled with her in the back of the ambulance.”

SPCC Callum says, “On the way to hospital, Ann’s blood pressure dropped low for a period of time so we gave her an infusion of medication to stabilise that and ensure her brain and heart were receiving the blood and oxygen they needed. We arrived at hospital with Ann doing really well and stable which allowed the hospital team to move her directly to the cardiac catheterisation lab to remove the blockage in Anns coronary artery.”

A remarkable recovery

Once in hospital, Ann remained in an induced coma for three days and had a stent fitted. Sarah said, “It still felt like a lost cause to me. The consultant said, when he put the stent in, don’t get your hopes up; there’s still a less than 10% chance of her leaving hospital and even then, she is likely to have significant brain damage due to the amount of time she was without oxygen.”

Not only did Ann survive, but she was fighting the induced coma in hospital. Sarah said, “The consultants were all learning from it. They couldn’t believe it – a medical miracle.”

Ann said, “It didn’t really hit home what had happened to me until I saw a letter from the hospital to my GP. The consultant had written on it ‘She survived!’. It still makes me teary, thinking about it.”

During an after-care check-up for cardiac arrest patients, Ann saw a range of medical professionals and underwent numerous tests. She said, “I got 100% in the memory test. They told me that’s never happened before and I must have had amazing CPR! I’ve been so lucky. My stats were also brilliant and I was told I have a beautiful heart rate.”

Reuniting at GWAAC’s airbase

Ann says, “I haven’t been as affected by the experience as the people around me. But I do get upset when I think about what l would have missed out on and how the family might have struggled. Christmases wouldn’t have been the same… and my little dog Freddie would have missed me.”

Visiting GWAAC’s airbase was emotional for them both but more so for Sarah. She said, “I really remembered Callum the minute he walked in. It brought it back but it was also so good to see him.”

SPCC Callum talked through what he did to help that day and showed the family the equipment he used. For Ann, who has no memory from the week before her cardiac arrest, visiting the airbase was about filling in some of the blanks.

For both Ann and Sarah, and Granddaughter Alaria and Aubrey, who also come to meet the crew, it was a chance to say thank you. Twelve-year-old Alaria even brought a letter to give to SPCC Callum. It said, “..if it weren’t for your quick-timing, knowledge and perseverance, Nonna would have either died or had severe brain damage… I will never be able to thank you enough.”

A surprise visit

Amongst the thank yous and the learnings, Supporter Engagement Coordinator Emma had arranged a surprise visit for Ann. Paramedic Abbie arrived to explain how she and her colleague had helped on the day and to share that she had been a former student of Ann’s when they both lived in Hereford some years ago. As they marvelled at the coincidence, Ann said with a smile, “Abbie was a good student.”

Abbie said, “To be in the crew that helped Ann out of 20 crews in the area that day, is a massive coincidence! It was also amazing to be part of the team that helped Ann. It was so nice to go to a job, do what you’re trained to do and get a good outcome from it… We don’t go to jobs like this every day and we all learnt so much from it following the debrief with Callum that will definitely have a positive impact on my future practice.”

Ann’s overriding feeling is one of gratitude

“I’m just so grateful to everyone who came to my aid. I feel like I’ve been given another chance and each day with my wonderful grandchildren is a bonus… I’m also amazed that this necessary service, the air ambulance, is a charity. Every little bit we can do to support it can make a difference. GWAAC needs money to save a life and you can be a part of that and think, I helped to save a life — I gave that person their life and gave the grandchildren their grandmother back, the children their mother back... You see, it’s not just one life you save, it’s that massive impact on everyone else. The knock-on is huge; all those future hopes and dreams…”

Just one month after her cardiac arrest, Ann attended a CPR training event at Cheltenham Town Football Club run by GWAAC’s Great Western Hearts CPR programme. She was also pleased to learn that her community centre had run a first aid training course because of her. She said, “We all know now where our defibrillator is; it’s outside the shop.”

Ann still sees Shane, her postman, delivering the post. She said, “He pops in now and then and asks how I am doing.”

Ann’s story is a clear example of the chain of survival in action

Within minutes, Ann was given good quality bystander CPR instructed by a 999 call handler. This meant that when the ambulance arrived, paramedics were able to take over with Ann’s heart still in a shockable rhythm, giving her a better chance of survival. Without bystander CPR this may not have been the case. The ambulance crew’s high quality advanced life support meant that GWAAC’s Critical Care Team could then stabilise Ann and deliver her to the correct hospital first time. Getting Ann to the right hospital for her needs meant that her ongoing care could begin straight away. Each step in the chain of survival is crucial for positive outcomes like Ann’s.

Would you know what to do to help someone in cardiac arrest? It only takes fifteen minutes to learn CPR online, and a few minutes to find out where your nearest defibrillator is. If you’d like more information about installing a defibrillator for your community or arranging a group CPR session with GWAAC’s Heartstarters Volunteers, visit our Great Western Hearts Defibrillator and Education webpages for more information.