Man who suffered cardiac arrest thanks rescuers

Simon Welch helped Leon Ogier, right, when he suffered a cardiac arrest while out on his bike

A man in Guernsey who suffered a cardiac arrest in the street has thanked those who saved his life.

Leon Ogier was out on his bike when he suffered an "overwhelming dizzy spell" in March.

Simon Welch was driving along the seafront when he spotted Mr Ogier at The Halfway.

Mr Welch, who got out of his car and called paramedics, said he started to panic but knew "he had to do something" to help.

Leon Ogier met police, paramedics and bystanders who came to his aid

Mr Welch said Mr Ogier was in a bad way and there was "no-one else to help".

Operators at the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre talked Mr Welch through how to do CPR over the phone while he waited for paramedics.

PC Alex Hearn and PC Lisa de Sousa arrived a short time later and took over chest compressions and initiated the first shock through a defibrillator.

PC Hearn said it was a "massive relief" when they realised he had started breathing again.

Mr Ogier, who woke up in the Intensive Care Unit, said he could not thank his rescuers enough.

"It's not just me, I have lots of family and friends and daughters and my son as well," he said.

"It's just inconceivable to think that I was so close to not being here."

Mr Ogier said it was the second time he had suffered a cardiac arrest after an earlier incident in January.

Paramedic officer Ross Senior said in the UK the survival chance of an out of hospital cardiac arrest was about 7%.

It is "slightly higher in Guernsey where we're looking at around 12%," Mr Senior said. "That's down to things such as community first responders and shorter travel times to the hospital."