Stevie Chalmers

In March 2024, Stevie and Elly were on their way to meet friends for a weekend away. Stevie was at the wheel and was driving along a dual carriageway in Cambridgeshire at 70mph when he suffered a cardiac arrest. What followed was a terrifying few minutes, but a remarkable community effort and a quick air transfer to a specialist heart hospital by East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) formed a successful chain of survival.“The last thing I remember is chatting to Elly beside me in the passenger seat. Then I ‘went out,” Stevie recalls.

Elly says, “Stevie suddenly made a ‘snoring’ sound and then slumped against the car window and his hands fell off the steering wheel. It was like an out-of-body experience – and I suddenly realised I was screaming.”

Travelling at speed, with Stevie completely unresponsive, Elly grabbed the steering wheel and guided the car away from the lorry in front and into the right-hand lane.

“The only thing I could do was take off my seatbelt to try to stretch my foot over to the brake. It was terrifying,” Elly continues. “But I manged to do it, get control of the vehicle and stop on a roundabout.”

Passing drivers played a vital part in the fight for Stevie’s life. The lorry driver and a former police officer saw what was unfolding. They pulled over, got Stevie out of the car and started to perform CPR. The driver of a works vehicle was carrying a defibrillator on board and immediately stopped to help, bringing this vital piece of equipment with him. The out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate in the UK is around 8%. However, if a defibrillator is used alongside effective CPR within the first 3-5 minutes, the chances of survival can increase to between 40% – 70%.

A passing doctor and surgeon also rushed to help Stevie, and a nearby ambulance service crew quickly arrived. The EAAA Anglia Two (Cambridge) crew, Dr James and Critical Care Paramedic (CCP), Gary, were tasked to the scene by helicopter.

Elly continues, “Stevie received five shocks from a defibrillator in total. Remarkably, he came round and asked where I was.”

However, Stevie was still critically unwell on the roadside. The EAAA helicopter landed in a nearby field and Dr James and CCP Gary were soon at Stevie’s side. They gave him a full assessment and administered blood-thinning medication in an attempt to unblock the vessels around the heart, in case this was the cause of the Stevie’s cardiac arrest. Importantly, if Stevie deteriorated, EAAA’s advanced skills, equipment and medication were now at the scene. The crew also determined that The Royal Papworth hospital was the best destination hospital for Stevie’s ongoing treatment and care. They were able to fly him there within minutes, improving his chances of making a full recovery.

Stevie says, “I needed to get to Papworth hospital quickly. I remember somebody saying that whoever called the air ambulance saved my life. It was a 50-minute drive from the scene to Papworth. The flight time in EAAA’s helicopter was just 12 minutes.”

He adds, “I was in hospital for ten days; three of those were in intensive care and they didn’t think I would make it. I was diagnosed with a hardening of the left ventricle of my heart, so I had a dual-chamber internal defibrillator fitted. Before my incident, I didn’t know the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest. I am now acutely aware of what a cardiac arrest is.”

EAAA’s Aftercare service also provided Stevie and Elly with some support post-incident.

“It was an incredible service,” Elly says. “I was watching Stevie unresponsive on the road for 22 minutes – that’s a long time. EAAA made sure we were aware this support was available to both of us. We met Jordan, one of the Aftercare clinicians, at EAAA’s Cambridge base when we visited.”

EAAA is a charity which is funded almost entirely by public donations. This support means we can bring urgent critical care to the scene of medical emergencies, like Stevie’s, 24/7 across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.