I did 15 minutes CPR on my dead husband ... that traumatised me more than him dying
MORE than 100 Mail on Sunday readers wrote to us, reliving the trauma of being forced to perform CPR on relatives or friends who were beyond help. Here are extracts from just a few of them. They make shocking reading, but their stories must be told…
‘OUR mother was 100 when she died. She knew she was going, called my sister and managed to hang on until she arrived, and then passed away.
‘My sister rang for an ambulance and the operator shouted at her to get Mum off the bed on to the floor and give her CPR – despite my sister saying she was definitely dead.
‘The operator said that she’d be in trouble if she didn’t do as she was told.
‘We would have made a complaint, but my sister just wanted to put the whole incident behind her. Mum did not have a peaceful death because of the insensitivity of that operator.’ Nola
‘THREE years ago my husband died at home, in front of me, of terminal lung cancer. I rang 999 and was told to do CPR until the paramedics arrived. I said it was pointless but all I got was, “You must do it.” So I spent 15 minutes doing CPR on my obviously dead husband. I was more traumatised by that than I was by his death, which was expected.’ Beth
‘IN JANUARY 2016, I visited my 90-year-old father who had terminal cancer at home. I was utterly shocked and distraught to find him collapsed and knew immediately he was beyond help.
‘I called my wife, who arrived with our eldest son.
‘He called 999 as we weren’t sure of the protocol.
‘He was told several times to lay Dad on the floor and apply chest compressions. It wasn’t until my wife took the phone and became extremely forceful that they stopped. The trauma of
that first telephone call still upsets me.’ Alan
‘WE FOUND our friend who was very unwell with Parkinson’s in bed. We tried to get a response but none came and she had no pulse. I rang 999 and was instructed to go back upstairs and to perform CPR and then the Heimlich manoeuvre, in case there was something in the airway. Although this was very distressing, we carried on.
‘The operator continued to instruct us until the paramedics arrived. They immediately told us that she had died some time before as the blood had pooled under the skin where she lay. We felt that somehow we had violated our friend in her peace.’ Joyce
‘I AM a retired registered nurse with more than 50 years of nursing experience, and know the difference between sudden, unexpected death when CPR helps and a normal end of life after illness.
‘I was present when a neighbour died in his conservatory looking out over his garden after a long illness. I called 999 and was asked to perform CPR. When I refused, the operator asked for my registration number and I gave her short shrift to that.’ Patricia
‘MY FATHER-in-law was 89 and suffered kidney failure, heart failure and other health issues. My sister-in-law went to pick him up to take him to dialysis and found him face down on the kitchen floor, dead.
‘She called 999 and told the operator he was definitely dead but they insisted she do CPR.
‘He was a frail man and she heard his ribs break while she was doing it. When the paramedics came, they said he’d been dead for 18 hours or so.’ Christine