Search for stranger who saved runner’s life

A DAD of three who almost died after suffering a cardiac arrest while jogging has launched an appeal to find the stranger who saved his life.

David Bland was running around Roath Park in Cardiff when he collapsed near the recreation ground and stopped breathing.

Luckily a passer-by spotted the 52-yearold and gave him CPR until an ambulance arrived to take him to the University Hospital of Wales.

Despite being placed in an induced coma and needing two stents fitted to improve the flow of blood from his heart, he was discharged just a fortnight later.

He has tried several times in the past three-and-a-half years to track down the mystery good Samaritan with no success.

Now, ahead of running the London Marathon with his daughter Seren, he is desperate to finally meet them so he can say thanks.

“You have a one in 10 chance of surviving a cardiac arrest, and if it happens out of hospital then the odds are even worse,” said David, who lives in Roath.

“So I count myself as very lucky to be alive today – and I owe it all to the person who gave me CPR.

“I have never managed to find this person and would love to meet them.”

David, who has little to no memory of what happened during the incident on November 2, 2013, said his family needed to identify him in hospital.

“I didn’t have any ID on me when I was jogging, so the medics had no idea who I was,” he said.

“My family had to come into hospital to identify me, which must have been so awful for them.

“They didn’t know how long my heart had stopped beating for, so they didn’t know what I was going to be like when I came round [from the coma]. I could have been severely brain damaged.”

David, chief executive of Newport Mind, said both his physical and mental health were affected following the cardiac arrest.

“I had to come to terms with my own mortality. I began to realise how fragile life could be,” he said.

“I’d worry about any slight twinge or pain. It also had an impact on my daughter Seren who now experiences anxiety and panic attacks.”

After spending time undergoing cardiac rehabilitation and building up his fitness again, David managed a “gentle jog” from the hospital grounds to his home in Roath.

“It was huge to be able to run again,” he added.

“I was determined to run the London Marathon as that’s what I’d been training for when I suffered the cardiac arrest.”

The Virgin Money London Marathon, which takes place on April 23, will be David’s sixth run around the famous course – and his third since the cardiac arrest. He also ran the Loch Ness Marathon in 2015 and the Valencia Marathon last year, as well as several half marathons.

“Running is so important for both my physical and mental health,” he said. “It gives me that space to think about stuff and gives me a sense of calm.”

David is running the London Marathon for Heads Together, a campaign which aims to create millions of conversations on mental health and change how we all talk about our mental wellbeing.

To donate go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DaveBland

If you believe you are the person who performed CPR on David, email mark.smith@walesonline. co.uk