The daughter of a Medway man who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at home arranged an emotional surprise reunion between her family and the team who saved his life.

David Hanlon, (54) from Rochester, Kent, was overwhelmed to come face to face with the team who bought him back from the brink of death after he went into cardiac arrest on 2 December 2024.

David’s wife Karen awoke to what sounded like David snoring shortly after 4:30am. Worried, Karen alerted her daughter Courtnie who found David unconscious and described noisy breathing, which can be an indication of agonal breathing, a type of breathing that can occur before someone goes into cardiac arrest.

Courtnie, who knew how to perform CPR, began chest compressions on her father while mum Karen called 999. Karen’s call was answered by Emergency Medical Advisor, Karen West, who quickly triaged the call as a category one emergency while Resource Dispatcher Amie Spring coordinated a team of six clinicians to the family home.

Emergency Care Support Worker, Peter Morris-Lusby, Paramedic, Adaeze Enyinnaya, Newly Qualified Paramedics Shauna Pearson and Hollie Towler, Critical Care Paramedic, Gary Balderston and Operational Team Leader James Rouse confirmed that David was in cardiac arrest.

The next 15 minutes were extremely tense. They shocked David twice with a defibrillator before achieving a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and stabilising him before taking him to William Harvey Hospital where he went on to have one stent fitted which widened the artery.

After spending his 54th birthday in hospital and having some well needed recovery, David was discharged just in time for Christmas where he enjoyed spending time at home with his family. Since then, David has had another operation to widen another artery which now has four stents, with the possibility to do the same with the third artery.

To aid his recovery, his daughter Courtnie surprised him and her mum with a visit to Medway Make Ready Centre where the family reunited with Karen, Amie, Adaeze, Shauna, Hollie and Gary.

To become a lifesaver just like Courtnie, you can learn CPR in just 15 minutes with the British Heart Foundation. Click here to learn CPR and be ready to save a life. All you need is a mobile phone or tablet and a cushion to practice on.

"I had learnt CPR a couple of years ago in a previous job and had recently done a refresher two months before this and so instantly knew I had to try anything and everything I could to get his heart beating again. For those who don’t know how to perform CPR, I would recommend it more than anything as you truly don’t know when you’ll need it.” Courtnie said. 

It was a huge shock to come face to face with my lifesavers.” said David. “I really don’t have a great memory from late November onwards, and so to hear more about what happened and to meet the team was something I’ll never forget.” 

NQP Shauna said “David’s wife and daughter were pivotal in why he is with us today. They were the first link in the chain of survival and their good quality CPR meant that we were able to start our interventions as soon as we arrived at the home. Learning CPR really can save lives and it’s never been more evident than in David’s case.”