St John Ambulance saves man after heart attack

3 November 2006

A team of quick thinking St John Ambulance volunteers saved the life of a man who collapsed after suffering a heart attack. 

Eric Darby had just finished watching England versus Pakistan at Lord's cricket ground with his son, David, when he complained of dizziness before falling to the ground unconscious.

St John Ambulance responded within a minute, performing CPR before using a defibrillator to administer five electric shocks.

Eric Darby, comments: 'I have such tremendous gratitude to St John Ambulance. I don’t think words can convey what you want to say to someone who has just saved your life.

‘You see St John Ambulance volunteers everywhere you go and think they are there just to put a plaster on. It is not until something as serious this happens that you realise the amazing skill and expertise of these people. It goes far beyond general first aid – they save lives.’

Eric’s son, David Darby, says: ‘My dad was fine all day, but as we were about to leave to miss the crowd he complained of feeling dizzy. The next thing I knew he had collapsed, I shouted for help and two St John Ambulance men were there in a matter of minutes. They began to resuscitate him and before I knew it he was breathing and had been put into their ambulance and rushed to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.

‘The volunteers of St John Ambulance are good people. I cannot praise them enough, if it hadn’t been for them he would have died. It is just nice to know that everything can turn out ok, things looked bleak for Dad that day, but thanks to these men, he is still here. Their quick reactions and outstanding professionalism saved his life.’

John Haythorne, first aider was part of the St John Ambulance team that rushed to Eric’s side. ‘It had been a really quiet day when all of a sudden towards the end of the match I heard someone shout ‘collapse’. I turned around to see a man who had just fallen to the ground.

'I and my colleague John Pearse managed to get to him in less than a minute and found him unconscious. We worked to get him breathing again and rushed him to the hospital.

‘We worked very well as a team on that day, the stewards, safety staff and Police present at Lords were a fantastic help too. When something like this happens you have to worry that you’re doing everything right, you go into autopilot and your training takes over. I am very chuffed that we were all able to save that man’s life.’