An Ashford father of three who suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in May 2022 has been reunited, alongside his family, with some of the ambulance team who helped save his life.
Gerard Quinn, 59, from Ashford, Kent, was at his family home with wife Jenny, daughter, Elizabeth and son, Solomon when he collapsed on 29 May, 2022.
After calling 999, wife Jenny was able to move Gerard to a safe space on their bedroom floor, before Solomon performed life-saving chest compressions while ambulance crews made their way to the scene.
Ambulance colleagues arrived in under two minutes and, working with colleagues from Kent Fire and Rescue Service, were able to safely transfer Gerard to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where he remained in a coma in the intensive care unit for more than a month.
SECAmb Critical Care Paramedic, Chris Fudge, said: “Gerard is here because of Solomon. Often people are not able to perform chest compressions on a loved one, but Solomon did with flying colours. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, Gerard has made a good recovery.”
Gerard said: “I woke up in hospital thinking, I didn’t go to bed here. As scary as it was, the event has made us closer as a family.”
Gerard and his family were reunited with ambulance crew Julia Lewis, Ambulance paramedic, Sophie Emery, Trainee Associate Ambulance Practitioner, and Jenna Woodcock, Ambulance paramedic, as well as John Sweeney, Operational Team Leader and Chris Fudge, Critical Care Paramedic.
Gerard is currently on his journey to full recovery and hopes to get back to work soon as a mechanic. Gerard currently has no recollection of the cardiac arrest or his time in hospital.
His wife Jenny said: “When Gerard first woke up from the coma he couldn’t move, or even open his eyes. Every single day since then his situation has improved, which is a miracle.”
Julia said: “Sadly with this type of incident, there is a low survival rate. I’ve been on the road for 14 years and I can only count on one hand how many cardiac arrest returns we’ve successfully completed. We were all thrilled to see Gerard with his family and we wish him the best of luck with his continued recovery.”