Life-saving care means David can spend Christmas at home with his family

A family is looking forward to an extra-special Christmas together, thanks to life-saving care by medical teams – and their daughter.

David Hanlon was discharged from the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford on Friday, just in time for the festive celebrations.

But the family’s Christmas could have looked very different, as David suffered a near-fatal heart attack in his sleep a month ago.

Daughter Courtnie was alerted after hearing her mum Karen trying to wake him, and quickly realised the seriousness of the situation.

The 27 year old, who works as a warehousing driver, had attended first-aid training in a previous role, and had a refresher a few months ago. She was able to use her knowledge to save his life.

She said: “I was getting ready for work and I could hear mum in the bedroom, and it sounded like dad was snoring.

“I went in and he wasn’t responding so we called an ambulance and then I had to start cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as he wasn’t breathing.

“Although I’d done the training, I’ve never had to perform CPR on a real person, but I just went into automatic mode.

“I couldn’t tell you what I was feeling, I knew I just had to try and I had to keep going.”

Ambulance crews arrived at the family’s home in Rochester within five or six minutes and Courtnie estimates David was without a pulse for about eight minutes. Paramedics used a defibrillator to shock his heart, and were able to detect signs of life after the second attempt.

Courtnie said: “It was my mum’s birthday, and she had lost my nan 26 years ago in very similar circumstances after she suffered a heart attack, so it was very traumatic.

“He had another arrest in critical care but eventually they managed to get a stent in to restore blood flow to his heart.

“He was in a coma for four days to let his body recover, and the critical care nurses were the nicest people I have ever met. They really looked after him, my mum, my brother and me.

“Any questions we had were answered. I couldn’t fault them at all, they are a fantastic team who really care about their job and the people they look after.”

David, who turned 54 in hospital and works as a private hire driver in London, was moved to the Bartholomew unit to continue recovering and will face further treatment in future. For now, he and Karen are reassessing their priorities and hoping to make plans to travel together a reality when he is well enough.

Courtnie said: “He has some short-term memory loss but is doing really well and it is lovely to have him home.

“We could have been facing Christmas without my dad, and I would really encourage everyone to learn CPR – our story proves it could save someone’s life.

“I never thought I would need it but I did, and I am glad I was paying attention in the course and when I did my refresher. You never know when you might need it, and it’s better to know it and not need it than be in that situation and not know what to do.

“He was turning grey in front of me but now we have him home and can celebrate Christmas together.”