A Sydney father who suffered a cardiac arrest on his way to a Chelsea and Tottenham friendly has reunited with the police officers, first-aiders and NSW Ambulance paramedics who saved his life.
Paul Gunning, 62, was on his way to the match on August 1 when he collapsed. Less than two months later, he met the people who performed CPR and used a defibrillator to revive him.
Gunning said he had been rushing to the stadium after a car park mix-up before waiting for his sons at security. He had felt well and experienced no warning symptoms in the weeks or months beforehand.
“No pains leading up to it in the months or weeks before so it’s just a complete shock,” he said.
Senior Constable Ryan Page was about 50 metres away when he was alerted to an unresponsive man. After assessing Gunning, he instructed others to lay him flat and began chest compressions.
First-aiders arrived soon afterwards with a defibrillator. Captain Roneel Chandra, who spent 22 years in the military, delivered the first shock, but Gunning did not immediately respond.
When a second shock was administered, Gunning began to move.
“Are you awake?” Chandra asked him.
“Yes, I am,” Gunning replied.
NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived to find him conscious and breathing.
“It was generally disbelief that he was up and talking, he was alert and relatively orientated,” paramedic Fahim Zaman said. “We don’t often see that.”
Gunning was taken to Concord Hospital and went on to make what was described as a remarkable recovery.
Meeting his rescuers, he told them: “Without you, I’d be, well, I wouldn’t be here.”
More than 32,000 Australians suffer cardiac arrest outside hospital each year, with around one in 10 surviving.
For Restart a Heart Day, NSW Ambulance is encouraging people to register with GoodSAM, an app that alerts nearby registered volunteers to suspected cardiac arrests while an ambulance is dispatched.
One of Gunning’s sons said the family now understood the importance of immediate assistance.
“It’s something that you never know you need, until you need it,” he said.
