ROY’S BIG KISS OF LIFE
He was dead for three whole minutes but good samaritans bring him back again and again
ROY Nicholls (centre) has reunited with his saviours who brought him back from the dead a week ago.
The Gold Coast painter collapsed from a heart attack in the street.
Strangers including lifesavers and a physiotherapy student on the scene swiftly did CPR, reviving him multiple times.
“Right group in the right place at the right time,” Mr Nicholls said.
AN unsung hero who helped perform CPR to bring Roy Nicholls back to life last week jokingly says the well-known Hinterland painter gave him too much lip.
“I must admit, I did tell Roy he wasn’t the best kisser I’ve ever kissed,” laughed a modest David Fair, one of four people who rushed to the 63-year-old’s aid after he collapsed in the main street of Tamborine Mountain on Saturday, June 9.
The group were all smiles as they reunited yesterday but it was a much grimmer scene a week ago.
Mr Nicholls was clinically dead for three minutes and only the swift actions of David and Mikaela Fair, phyiotheraphy student David Cvelbar and Year 12 student Alec Wackwitz saved him.
The group responded to a cry for help from Mr Nicholls’ friend, Magdalena Filipkowski, and worked tirelessly to restart his heart until paramedics arrived.
“We lost him a couple of times,” said Mr Fair, surf lifesaver.
“Once we got him breathing – because he was pretty well gone, he was very blue in colour – we rolled him on his side into the recovery position to make sure he was comfortable, then he’d stop breathing again so we’d have to roll him back and continue CPR.
“I don’t know how many times we got him breathing, then stopped, got him breathing, then stopped.
“Did it for about 13 to 14 minutes until the ambulance got there.
“David (Cvelbar) got there first and I think within the first two to three minutes, all four of us were there. David threw his phone to Alec who got on to triple 0, and started doing compressions. Mikaela and I showed up within less than a minute of that. I was supporting behind the head, and Mikaela was doing mouth to mouth – then we alternated.
“None of us panicked, it was like clockwork – just did what we had to do. We weren’t in control of whether he lived or didn’t.
“The chances of him surviving were pretty low, because there was no defibrillator on the mountain, until the ambulance arrived.”
Mr Nicholls, who has lived on the mountain for 12 years, said he remembered little of the day.
“I parked outside Spice on the lower part of the road and picked up a book,” he said. “I was taking it to my son who had been to the bakery. As soon as I gave that to him, the exercise of getting out of the car triggered an attack.
“From then it was a blank. I lost consciousness. I have snippets of being in the ambulance, but that’s a blur. I don’t remember anything of the operation. Just remember people seeing me out, when I was up in my room.
“My heart stopped. They panicked a bit and kept going until the ambos got there. Apparently, I lost it in the ambulance too. They had to bring me back with a defibrillator.
“Now I feel a little bit of a dull ache in my chest where they did the CPR. I’m definitely not 100 per cent and I’ve been told to take it easy for a week or so.”
Mr Nicholls praised his survival as divine intervention. “It’s almost like it was divinely choreographed. The right group of people in the right place at the right time. I do think these things happen upstairs.
“I’m obviously eternally grateful to everyone involved. I said to them that I don’t think thanks can say it enough. There’s a limitation to the word.”
Overwhelmed by what happened, Mr Nicholls wants to use this experience to encourage others to complete a first aid course and learn CPR.
“I think we have to highlight the more need for more awareness about heart problems in general.
“But I hope those who witnessed the work these amazing people did to save my life, feel inspired – especially if they live with elderly family members. What they learn could easily save a life.”
Mr Fair said the life-saving techniques should be compulsory in schools.
“All businesses should also have someone trained in it for emergencies. There’d be a lot more people alive if they did.
“And it’s so important to do refresher courses, because technology and equipment is always changing.
“This experience has changed my life completely.
“It’s a massive reality check that somebody is there one minute and could easily be gone the next. Makes you realise that life really is short.
“We’re not here for a long time. We have to deal with what’s real and don’t stress the small stuff.”
ONCE WE GOT HIM BREATHING — BECAUSE HE WAS PRETTY WELL GONE, HE WAS VERY BLUE IN COLOUR — WE ROLLED HIM ON HIS SIDE INTO THE RECOVERY POSITION TO MAKE SURE HE WAS COMFORTABLE, THEN HE’D STOP BREATHING AGAIN SO WE’D HAVE TO ROLL HIM BACK AND CONTINUE CPR DAVID FAIR
IT is no surprise to hear Tamborine Mountain house painter Roy Nicholls believes in divine intervention.
If you are going to have a heart attack, as the Gold Coaster did last weekend, you would be grateful to have lifesavers and a physiotherapy student nearby.
They brought him back to life multiple times and ultimately saved him after his collapse.
Their heartwarming reunion on Saturday and covered today in the Bulletin is a powerful reminder of how critical knowing CPR can be.
It is something Mayor Tom Tate knows only too well, having similarly saved the life of his wife Ruth when she collapsed just as they were about to board a flight overseas last year.
Mayor Tate returned and was at pains to highlight the importance of doing the training as you never know when it might come in handy.
It is a message we endorse.
Roy Nicholls is alive today because of it and the more people who know the drill, the “luckier” we will all be.