‘IF IT DID HAVE TO HAPPEN, HE WAS IN THE BEST PLACE’
Hospital worker suffered cardiac arrest while on shift
COLLEAGUES of a hospital worker saved his life after he suffered a cardiac arrest at work.
Maintenance technician Louis Fallows, aged 29, collapsed at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in August last year.
But luckily his quick-thinking work pals were able to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.
Louis’s partner Lucy Parfitt says that she is ‘privileged’ that he is still alive and that the situation would have been different if he had not been with people trained in the emergency procedure when he had the cardiac arrest.
Now Louis and Lucy, of Werrington, along with Louis’s dad Jeremy Fallows, of Kingsley Holt, and family friend Ian Marsh have completed the Three Peaks challenge to help the Cardiac Risk in the Young charity.
And they have raised a total of £5,175 to enable young people to undergo heart screening sessions.
Lucy said: “On August 29, 2019 I was called to say that Louis had collapsed at work and I needed to make my way to the A&E department as quickly as possible.
“I was informed that Louis had suffered a cardiac arrest and that
CPR had been carried out by his colleagues and that had saved his life.
“When they tried to bring him around he suffered another cardiac arrest and was placed in a coma for three days to help his body recover from the trauma.
“On the third day he was brought around from the coma and although he had no idea what was going on I have never been so grateful.
“The following day he was awake, although didn’t feel great. After two weeks in hospital he was fitted with an internal defibrillator to ensure that this could never happen again.
“I am so privileged for Louis to be alive.
“Many people have lost family members with no prior warning due to cardiac problems. If it wasn’t for his cardiac arrest happening in the presence of people who were trained in CPR I would be in a different situation today. He was off work for four months.
“Louis works as a maintenance technician and his colleagues performed CPR on him until the ambulance and paramedics arrived. Thankfully he was in the right place at the right time, if it was to happen anywhere he was in the best place he could have been.”
Lucy, Louise, Jeremy and Ian, completed Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon themselves and were joined by other family members and friends for the last two walks.
Lucy said: “Thank you to all who have donated and helped us to raise the funds. We have been raising money for CRY as we want to raise enough money to facilitate a screening in a local area to us. A screening means that young people can be tested and that lives can be saved.
“The walks over the three days were hard, but we have received a lot of support.”
Every week in the UK at least 12 apparently fit and healthy young people die of undiagnosed cardiac conditions.
CRY can reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death (YSCD) by working with cardiologists and family doctors to establish good practice and appropriate screening facilities to promote and protect the cardiac health of the young. By supporting CRY people will help save young lives from these potentially fatal cardiac conditions.
To support the team’s effort and donate to CRY go to Lucy’s fundraising page at justgiving. com/fundraising/lucy-parfitt3