Woman thanks 999 staff after New Year cardiac arrest

Frances Williamson said there had been no warning signs prior to her collapse

A woman has thanked ambulance staff who saved her life when her heart stopped at a New Year's party.

Frances Williamson, from Borrowash, Derbyshire, collapsed 12 minutes after midnight at a celebration on 1 January.

She was helped initially by an off-duty paramedic who was at the party and family members who did CPR.

After a 999 call, East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) staff arrived and were able to restart Ms Williamson's heart.

Ms Williamson, a grandmother, said: "I didn't experience any warning signs of what was about to happen.

"I was having a lovely time at the party and didn't experience any chest pain or any of the other symptoms which could have suggested something was about to go seriously wrong."

Luckily, one of the other partygoers - Vicky Gough - was a clinical assessment team paramedic at EMAS.

Vicky Gough, an off-duty paramedic, could not feel a pulse and began treatment

Ms Gough said: "I heard someone from the kitchen shout 'Vicky, Fran's collapsed'.

"I instantly switched back to clinician mode and started my assessments on Frances, while someone else called 999.

"She was initially breathing but was unconscious, so I put her into the recovery position. But then her body then began to shake and she started to audibly gag.

"Soon afterwards, Frances stopped breathing and I couldn't feel a pulse - she had gone into cardiac arrest."

Ms Williamson's daughter-in-law began CPR until EMAS cardiac arrest lead Kerri Lowe arrived.

Kerri Lowe arrived with a defibrillator and restarted Frances's heart

She said: "I arrived with the defibrillator and thanks to the effective CPR being carried out by Vicky and Kate, we identified that Frances's heart was in a shockable rhythm.

"We managed to get her heart beating again after delivering one shock."

Ms Williamson was then taken to the Royal Derby Hospital.

She said: "I'm so grateful to everyone who worked together to save my life.

"I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the teamwork of Vicky and the ambulance crew.

"I'm especially amazed by the actions of my daughter-in-law Kate, who hadn't performed CPR until that day."