Phil marks ten years since his cardiac arrest

Now age 76, Phil from Hunstanton in West Norfolk, has just marked ten years since his out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; a medical emergency which could have taken his life. Instead, he’s recognising the good that came from a bad situation and thanking the supporters of East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) for giving him an extra decade.

On the morning of 22 July 2015, Phil woke up and went downstairs to let out his dog, Buster, and make himself a coffee. As he flicked the switch of the kettle, he felt a tightening in his chest and suddenly began perspiring so much that his shirt stuck to him.

“I thought I may have picked up a virus, so I went back to bed for a lay down. I soon realised that something wasn’t right, and I phoned for an ambulance,” Phil says.

A First Responder arrived within eight minutes, quickly followed by a land ambulance. A crew from EAAA were also tasked. Phil was in the back of the land ambulance having been taken to where the helicopter had landed, when EAAA’s Dr Victor and Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) Carl arrived shortly after. It was then that Phil had a cardiac arrest.

“I can remember arresting,” Phil explains. “Everything faded and then, nothing. The next thing I can remember is seeing the helicopter rotor blades over my head as I was taken on a stretcher to the helicopter, but at that point I was ‘out of it’ and I didn’t know what it was.”

Dr Victor and CCP Carl gave Phil CPR, used a defibrillator and provided enhanced care at the scene, including administering advanced medication over and above that carried by the ambulance service, before he was transported by helicopter to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. The flight took twenty minutes by air. It could have taken over an hour by road. Phil recalls feeling the air on his face when he was taken out of the helicopter on the hospital helipad, then he can remember nothing else until the next morning.

“I actually thought I’d died,” Phil says. “I looked up at the tiles and strip lights on the ceiling and thought, ‘If this is heaven, it’s not very nice!”

Phil was in Intensive Care for 24 hours, followed by another day on the High Dependency Unit. He returned home after four days, and had stents fitted in the months that followed.

“My consultant said, ‘I don’t think you realise how lucky you are,” Phil adds. “But I know if it wasn’t for people’s donations to East Anglian Air Ambulance, I wouldn’t be here.”

A year after his cardiac arrest, Phil joined EAAA as a volunteer, and ten years on and he remains thankful for the treatment and care he received.

“I’m very grateful and can’t thank all the individuals, who helped me, enough. It’s one of the reasons I started to volunteer with EAAA. I’m a people person; I’m retired and giving some time to EAAA enabled me to meet people and take part in activities and events that I wouldn’t otherwise do. It was my way of giving back,” Phil says.

EAAA completely depends on a dedicated, diverse and flexible group of individuals who volunteer to support EAAA in delivering the life-saving service by dedicating their time and skills in many different ways.

“It gives me great pride to volunteer with EAAA,” Phil says. “I believe in everything it stands for because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the air ambulance’s interventions on that day a decade ago.”

Phil marked the ten-year anniversary of his cardiac arrest with friends and family at a garden party where he reflected and recognised how far he has come and the difference volunteering has made to his life.

“A lot of good came from a bad situation. It’s really quite something to be here ten years later.”