Former footballer thanks staff

A former professional footballer has said a heartfelt thank you to the staff who saved his life.

Shaun Elliott was getting ready for a meal with friends at his home in Poringland, Norfolk, when he began suffering chest pains and shortness of breath.

His condition took a turn for the worse in the back of the ambulance but the 58-year-old is now back to good health and was last week reunited with his life-savers.

The former Norwich City footballer was full of praise for Emergency Medical Technician Jane Cossey, Student Paramedic Jennifer Wicklund, and Paramedic David Smith who came to his aid on the night in January after a blood clot in one of his arteries resulted in him needing emergency treatment.

He said: “I had a bit of a bad chest for a couple of months and it was something that was uncomfortable. When you are playing football, you are used to pain and I thought it was a chest infection.

“When they first arrived my chest was really sore. I remember them putting me on the stretcher, but cannot remember much after that.”

The car salesman, who played for the Canaries between 1986 and 1988, is on the road to recovery after surgery to insert a stent at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Shaun praised the quick response of the Trust: “If it was not for the three of them, I would not be here today.

“There has been a lot of negativity about ambulance response times, but for me it could not have been any better. I won the lottery with how quickly they came and how quickly they got me to hospital.”

Published 30th May 2015