Man shocked 16 times to save his life thanks medics

Richard Ward, his son Lucas and wife Teresa, met paramedics at Tollgate ambulance hub

A man who was shocked 16 times to save his life has been reunited with the medics who treated him.

Richard Ward, from Cannock in Staffordshire, had just eaten a sausage sandwich when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed.

And it was swift action by his wife Teresa and a retired first responder that gave the paramedics time to reach the 38-year-old.

Mr Ward said his last memory of the day was dropping his son Lucas, 4, off at nursery.

“I apparently had a sausage sandwich and a conversation with my wife Teresa too, before I collapsed - but I don’t remember any of it,” he said.

Put in induced coma

The next thing he could recall was waking up in an intensive care unit a few days later, confused, and asking his wife if he was going to die.

On the morning of his attack, Mr Ward’s wife ran to a neighbour – a retired community first responder – for help, and they immediately began CPR on him.

Paramedic Daisy Morell was in the team who responded to the call out and said they then took over and had to administer 16 shocks to restart his heart.

They used a device which provides mechanical chest compressions and once his heart was beating again they took him to New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton.

Mr Ward was then put into an induced coma and spent three days in ICU and a further 11 days on a cardiac ward before being discharged.

He now has a defibrillator implanted, and said he felt incredibly lucky to have survived.

He visited Tollgate Ambulance Hub in Stafford with his wife and son on Monday to thank the team who helped save his life.

'Learn CPR'

“I’m very thankful to you all for what you did for me, thank you for saving my life,” he said.

“I wish everyone would learn CPR, it takes 15 minutes to learn and it could save a life.”

Ms Morell said she had worked for the service for five years and "this is the first time a patient has fully recovered from a cardiac arrest".

“It was really lovely to see Richard and his family," she added.

“His story is the perfect example of how important early CPR is to a positive outcome and I’d encourage everyone to learn this lifesaving skill, as you never know who will need your help.”