A former 999 call taker put her previous knowledge to good use and called for help when she sensed her partner of more than 30 years became seriously unwell.
The calls proved to be lifesaving when avid Brighton & Hove Albion fan Chris Geddes then went into cardiac arrest in front of SECAmb paramedic Kathryn Fox, who along with her colleagues, emergency care support worker Sheenagh Hughes and trainee associate ambulance practitioner Laura Mimms, were called to attend the emergency at his home in Worthing on 22 January last year.
Chris’ partner Lesley, 58, who was a 999-call handler for Sussex Ambulance Service in the mid-90s, called NHS 111 as she was concerned about Chris after he woke up feeling unwell.
With his only symptoms at the time being nausea, pain in his wrist and jaw and looking pale and grey, Chris, also 58, put it down to a sickness bug and his wrist hurting from their cat, Piglet, sleeping on his arm.
But Lesley, knew something was wrong and called for help.
“She was right this time,” laughed Chris, a self-employed planning consultant.
“I don’t remember what happened before or after, but I have no doubt I would have died without Lesley’s quick-thinking the crews’ mammoth efforts.”
Lesley, now a scheme housing officer, said: “He apologised to the call handler for wasting their time, then he suddenly didn’t feel at all well.”
At the time, paramedic Kathryn was undertaking some basic observations when Chris said he didn’t feel well and then collapsed in front of them all.
Kathryn said: “We were all taken a bit by surprised when he collapsed. It is the first time in my career that I’ve witnessed something like this.”
With Lesley pinned in the corner of the bedroom at the time, the team worked to get Chris back and with the support of others including critical care paramedics and the air ambulance they managed to restore a heart rhythm and get him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton.
With a stent fitted and a complete blockage of one of his main arteries removed, Chris was back home within 10 days.
Apart from some short-term memory loss, Chris has been “pretty good”, Lesley said, and was back to work a week after leaving hospital and straight down to the Amex to watch Brighton’s next game.
Lesley said: “When the paramedics got here, they were just amazing. Something like this makes you realise how fragile life is, it has made me much more aware of the people around me.”
The pair were delighted to meet members of the team who helped save Chris’ life, Kathryn, Sheenagh and Laura at Worthing Make Ready Centre on 22 August this year.
Chris added: “It feels good to be here today, I would start welling up if I started to say what I felt.”