Man woke from coma to proposal from partner

A HEART attack patient woke up from a nine-day coma to find his devoted partner proposing to him.

When David Lloyd collapsed at home with severe chest pains more than a week earlier, his girlfriend Anita Davies gave him CPR and called an ambulance.

And when the 44-year-old eventually woke up in hospital following his terrifying ordeal, Anita had three questions to ask him straight away.

Recalling the wonderful moment he regained consciousness, she said: “[I asked] ‘Can you hear me?’ And he shut his eyes to say yes. I said, ‘do you love me?’ And he said, ‘yes.’

“‘Shall we get married?’ And he said ‘yes.’

“So we did – we got married six months later. He got stronger every day because he had a purpose.”

That was three years ago and the couple, from Cefn Cribwr, near Bridgend, have now told their story to publicise the work of the medics who saved David.

The pair appear in a new video explaining the work of the catheter lab in the cardiac centre of Swansea’s Morriston Hospital.

Consultant cardiologist Mark Ramsey says David’s first 24 hours in intensive care, where he was put into a medically-induced coma, were very difficult.

“He was on maximum support to keep the circulation going.

“We had to be very guarded as to whether he would survive this and, just as importantly, how much injury there might be to the brain due to the lack of blood supply during resuscitation.

“While the resuscitation was prompt, he’d had low blood pressure for quite some time.”

Fortunately, over the next few days there was marked improvement in David’s heart function and he was eventually discharged from hospital and has since gone on to make an excellent recovery.

The video was made by Abertawe Bro Morganwg University Health Board cardiology matron Catherine Theron and Steve Atherton of the health board’s medical illustration team, with the aim of helping staff and patients alike understand the wider picture.

David and Anita, who made a £200 donation to the catheter lab when they got married, immediately agreed to take part in the video when Catherine approached them.

“It was a way of giving something back after what they did for me,” said David.

Although he is not in work at the moment, David helps around the house and is studying for an Open University degree to keep his mind active. “I’m feeling well,” he added. “I do get a bit tired now and again, But, other than that, things are good.”