A first aid trained man from Brighton, who was reunited recently with his life-savers, knows only too well the benefits of CPR training. 
Now 64-year-old, Trevor Howell, and his wife Dawn recently visited SECAmb’s Brighton Make Ready Centre on Wednesday, 2 April 2025 to thank the clinicians that saved his life – only five months after he suffered a cardiac arrest at work.
With fewer than one in 12 patients surviving to 30 days after experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, Trevor’s remarkable recovery amazed the ambulance crews he reunited with. Trained in emergency first-aid himself, Trevor knows only too well how lucky he is.
On 11 October 2024, Trevor went to work at Brighton College as usual, completely unaware of the life-threatening event that was about to happen.
Shortly after 09:20hrs, Trevor stopped breathing, and he collapsed during his shift. Two colleagues working close by, William Mavin and Kyle Logan, acted quickly, starting CPR before two nurses at Brighton College arrived and gave Trevor two shocks with a defibrillator.
Newly Qualified Paramedic (NQP), Aaron Scott, and Trainee Associate Ambulance Practitioner (TAAP), Danielle Pomfrey, arrived minutes after the nurses had managed to revive Trevor.
However, it wasn’t long before he stopped breathing again and went into cardiac arrest for a second time.
Aaron and Danielle administered another three shocks with a defibrillator as Newly Qualified Paramedic (NQP), Louie Moran, Trainee Associate Ambulance Practitioner (TAAP), Ashley Lane, Critical Care Paramedic (CCP), Gerry Davis and Operational Team Leader (OTL), Tom Graves arrived to assist.
Trevor was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital where he stayed for a further four days, making an impressive recovery following critical heart surgery.
Trevor said: “As someone who is emergency first-aid trained, I know how crucial the minutes after a cardiac arrest are. I can’t thank everyone that helped me that day enough – SECAmb, the nurses and doctors at the hospital. Without them, this could have been a very different outcome.”
His wife, Dawn, added: “I got a phone call from one of Trevor’s colleagues and as soon as they said are you sitting down, I knew something was wrong. It was one of my worst nightmares. We’ve been married for 40 years and I’m so thankful to everyone that helped Trevor that day. It means we and our family still have many more years together to come.”
Trevor is already back at work full-time and is enjoying keeping active with regular swimming sessions and walks with Dawn.
Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) Gerry said: “It’s incredible to see Trevor doing so well and that he’s already back at work. The teams that arrived first did a fantastic job and I was shocked to see Trevor speaking on scene when I arrived. It is extremely rare that happens following a cardiac arrest. This is only the second time I’ve seen that occur during my 28 years on the job!”
Trainee Associate Ambulance Practitioner, Danielle, added: “I’ve been at SECAmb for five years and this was my first time meeting a survivor of cardiac arrest, so it was really special to meet Trevor. I’m so glad to see that he is doing so well.”
The moments following a cardiac arrest are critical. Trevor and Dawn are urging others to learn basic life support which could make all the difference to the outcome for a victim of cardiac arrest.
Online tools like RevivR are available through the British Heart Foundation where you can learn CPR skills for free in 15 minutes. Find out more here.