A heart attack victim survived unharmed after Northampton General Hospital doctors performed life-saving surgery . . . while he was clinically dead.
John Thomson, 60, of Links View, Northampton, dialled 999 from his bed after having chest pains and went into cardiac arrest in front of paramedics.
They kept his heart going artificially, but by the time he got to an NGH operating table he was clinically dead as his heart was unable to work by itself.
However, surgeons refused to give up. They unblocked the blood vessel causing the cardiac then, 80 minutes after his heart stopped, shocked him back to life.
Against all odds, after cooling his head to prevent brain damage by the lack of blood flow, and a nine-day medically-induced coma, he made a complete recovery.
Mr Thomson said: “I can’t thank the medical team enough, from the paramedics to the surgeons.
“I’d had chest pains over the previous few days but, being a bloke, I ignored them.
“The paramedics got there so quick I was still on the phone to 999 control.
“So when I had the cardiac arrest they were leading me down the stairs.
“I don’t remember anything after that for 10 days.
“But I do know now they were absolutely amazing; there was not one weak link in the whole chain.”
Working for half an hour outside his house, the crew, Lisa Partridge, Harjot Singh and Sasha Tinston, delivered 50 shocks, with Mr Thomson describing himself afterwards as “like an old Ford Cortina that wouldn’t start”.
NGH doctors said much of the credit for saving his life lay with the paramedic team.
Dr Dominic Cox, cardiology consultant, said: “When I was called my immediate reaction was that he could not be saved.
“Even after the operation, there were as many times I saw him dying rather than surviving. It’s very unusual to see someone who was dead for 80 minutes or so while being artificially supported then make a full recovery from it.
“I’ve seen nothing like this before and it’s a really remarkable story.”
The reason John Thomson was able to survive his heart attack was the speed of care.
He found out later that, as he was calmly being asked to get dressed, an electrocardiogram scan was actually showing he was about to have a massive cardiac arrest.
But the paramedics were ready for action.
Dr Cox said: “What made the difference was that he had full CPR from the moment he suffered the heart attack and the chain of survival was unbroken from there to A&E to cath lab to ITU.
“Everything worked out perfectly for him.
“If just one part of the chain had slipped, I don’t think John would have survived.”
Mr Thomson said: “I can’t think of a better place to have a heart attack than in front of three paramedics.”
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