Nottinghamshire man reunited with ambulance staff who saved his life

Sue Fensom said she was scared on hearing the noises being made by her husband, Robert

A man found unresponsive after a cardiac arrest said he was "grateful to still be alive" on being reunited with the ambulance staff who saved his life.

Robert Fensom, 62, of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, was found lying in bed by his wife Sue on 30 May last year.

"The sounds coming from Rob were something I had never heard before and I started to become scared," she said.

After calling for an ambulance, Mrs Fensom followed staff instructions and performed CPR on her husband.

"Rob normally gets up at around 05:30 to take the dog out for a morning stroll at the nearby park, but on this particular morning he was just lying there, and I could hear him making strange gurgling noises," she said of her husband of 40 years.

The couple were reunited with the ambulance staff on Thursday

"I decided to roll him over and that is when I could see Rob's face. One of his eyes was bulging open and it was just blankly staring at me, with the other eye closed shut.

"I shook him really hard and yelled at him but was getting no response from him."

'A fighting chance'

When she dialled 999, retired firefighter Mr Fensom was diagnosed as being in cardiac arrest, a medical emergency that occurs when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping.

Mrs Fensom began chest compressions, following the advice of East Midlands Ambulance Service emergency medical adviser Chloe Irving, who said: "Despite this being a very scary and distressing experience for Sue, she listened to my instructions, which will have no doubt given Robert a fighting chance until the ambulance crew arrived."

Paramedic Rob Keenan was first on scene and took over, using a defibrillator to get Mr Fensom's heart beating again.

Paramedic Rob Keenan said Mr Fensom's heart was in a in a "shockable rhythm"

Mr Fensom was then taken to Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, for further treatment.

"I don't remember anything from a few days leading up to what happened," he said.

"I don't even have any recollection of watching the Nottingham Forest football game the day before, which, as an avid fan of the club, is not something I would normally forget attending."

It was no ordinary match, either: Forest beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 at Wembley that day to win promotion back to the Premier League.

On being reunited with the ambulance staff who saved his life, Mr Fensom said: "I'm grateful to still be alive, with no life-changing impacts, meaning I can continue to keep fit and active, which is what I love to do."