A Brighton family’s worst nightmare turned into a story of survival, thanks to the actions of the SECAmb team who brought their baby daughter back from the brink after she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at home.

Seven-month-old Chloe Jackson collapsed on 12 April 2024, prompting a desperate call to 999 from Chloe’s mum, Heather.

Thanks to the swift actions of emergency call handler, Beth Panton and SECAmb paramedics, Chloe received the critical CPR and emergency care that ultimately saved her life.

The Jackson family recently had the opportunity to reunite with Paramedic, Kate Davies, Emergency Care Support Worker, Zoe Dean and Associate Ambulance Practitioner, Hili-Blue Pate, at Brighton Make Ready Centre to express their heartfelt gratitude to them.

Once Chloe was stabilised, she was blue-lighted to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton before being transferred to a specialist’s children’s unit in London.

Further investigations revealed she had an extremely large cardiac fibroma which is a rare tumour in her left ventricle which causes life-threatening arrhythmias.

Specialist surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital went on to perform a complex surgery to remove 92 per cent of the tumour while preserving her heart function. Remarkably, Chloe made a strong recovery, and was discharged just a week later, showing no signs of neurological damage.

To learn CPR and to find out the crucial role that CPR plays in saving lives, click here.

“The actions of both the operator and ambulance crew undoubtedly saved Chloe’s life,” said Chloe’s parents. “Without the call handler, Chloe would not have received the immediate and effective CPR which kept her alive until the crew arrived. We’ve been told by multiple doctors how instrumental the crew’s actions were in her survival. They did an exceptional job in what was a rare scenario.”

“I was overjoyed to receive such a touching compliment from Heather, Chloe’s mum. said Beth. “As an EMA, we rarely meet our patients, and so it was incredibly moving to know my efforts were appreciated.”

“She has not had any arrhythmias since surgery and her heart has fully recovered from both the arrest and the operation,” said her parents. “We hope the team understands just how vital their roles were in getting us to where we are today. She would not be here without them.”

Operations Manager, Vicky Knights said “I am so proud of the team for what they did that day, it made me cry with pride for our staff.”

Kate added “It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to reunite with Chloe, Heather and Joe and I couldn’t be happier that we were there to help them in their time of need. We all wish them the best of luck for their future.”