“I’m so grateful – it feels like a second chance at life”

A grateful patient whose heart stopped twice in the back of an East of England Ambulance Service vehicle has thanked the crews who shocked him back to life and described them as “his heroes”.

Chris Peters called 999 in March when he felt a sudden tightness and pain in his chest and arms while at work. When EEAST’s crews arrived, they discovered he was suffering a heart attack and began treatment, only for Chris to have two cardiac arrests whilst on the way to Papworth Hospital.

Chris has since met two of the crew who attended to him – paramedic James Wardle-Parker and student paramedic/ emergency medical technician Alana Panks – to thank them for their-saving actions. Student paramedic Dominyka Ragaliauskaite, who was the third crew member, was unfortunately unable to attend.

“It was wonderful for both myself and my family to meet the crew and thank them for saving my life,” said Chris, who lives in Milton. “But at the same time listening to some of the details about how my heart stopped completely was really quite sobering.

“I remember bits from the day but was really interested to meet the crew and fill in the blanks. To have those conversations with the people who saved my life was just amazing.

“It’s still early days in my recovery but I’m out and about and back working part time. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life. This has given me the opportunity to reset and re-evaluate my life and my priorities. I’m so grateful to the crew, and the hospital team, for everything they have done for me.”

Greg Corns, senior paramedic and leading operations manager for South Cambridge, said: “It has been an honour to facilitate this patient meet up, which gave Chris the chance to meet his real-life heroes (his words) following his heart attack and deterioration into two cardiac arrests on route to hospital.

“There is no doubt that this meet up has occurred due to the excellent care and unrivalled compassion shown by our real life heroes, our members of EEAST. I am proud to work alongside James, Alana, Dominyka and they deserve the recognition of their actions and the smiles on their faces. Thank you.”

*Photo of Alana Panks, student paramedic / emergency medical technician (left), and paramedic James Wardle-Parker (right) presenting Chris Peters with a framed ECG of his heart rhythm during the incident.

Published 12 August 2021