A man has returned to Altrincham Hospital to thank the staff who saved his life after his heart stopped for 11 minutes as he was checking in for a routine blood test.
Brian Green, from Timperley, was registering for an appointment in January when he suddenly collapsed with what was later diagnosed as a cardiac arrest.
Nursing staff sprang into action, using a combination of a defibrillator and CPR to bring 75-year-old Brian back to life - having been technically dead for 11 minutes.
Brian’s wife of 54 years, Sheila, had been next door at Total Fitness when she received a call from the hospital.
“I was in the gym when they called and they described the clothes he was wearing. I said yes, that's my husband, so I ran through Goose Green to the hospital,” Sheila told Altrincham Today.
“He got to the counter and gave his name and that was the last thing he remembers. His heart stopped for 11 minutes and they shocked him back to life.”
Nurse Rosie Porte gave Brian CPR with his life-saving team also including Mandy Blackburn, Agnieszka Tasker and Sue Hazoume.
Within an hour, the hospital staff were joined by a team of paramedics and doctors who had arrived by air ambulance helicopter, landing in nearby Stamford Park in Hale.
“Brian told me he had definitely had his money’s worth from the NHS that day!” Sheila said.
After being transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital, father-of-two Brian - who had also had a stroke in 2018 - was given an echocardiogram and diagnosed with heart failure. He’s now having rehab in a bid to strengthen his heart sufficiently in order to have a bypass operation.
But Brian, a former gas service engineer who also has three grandchildren, is enjoying daily walks and family life once again - and he was recently given the chance to thank the staff who saved his life on a return visit to Altrincham Hospital.
“We are so grateful to them,” added Sheila. “We can’t believe how he was in the right place at the right time - if he'd been anywhere else he would have been dead.
“But they were so amazing, the way they just got on and did their job. I can’t thank them enough for keeping him alive.”
