Heart attack victim shares experience (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Heart attack victim from Teddington shares experience

11:49am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News By Clare Buchanan

A heart attack victim is sharing his experience to raise awareness of health and resuscitation as part of national heart month.

Brian Kent had a cardiac arrest in September 2010 and his wife Pam performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.

Paramedics used a defibrillator to get his heart beating again and he was brought to West Middlesex Hospital, where he regained consciousness three days later.

The 75-year-old had surgery to strengthen his heart arteries and praised the life saving care he received.

The Teddington resident said he is now enjoying a full life and attends an exercise group.

He said: “I didn’t have any symptoms before my arrest and it came out of the blue so I can’t stress enough how glad I am that my wife could perform CPR on me until the paramedics got there.

“As I recovered in the hospital I was really struck by how all the NHS services worked together to bring me back and enable me to carry on living a full life.

“When I was a young boy there was no NHS and I feel it’s very important that we all support it.

“Take care of your heart with a healthy diet and exercise, learn how to check your pulse so you can find out if you have an irregular beat, and learn CPR because you never know when it could save someone’s life.”

If you or someone you know is having a suspected cardiac arrest dial 999 immediately. Signs and symptoms suggesting a person has gone into cardiac arrest include lack of breathing, movement and response.

For more information, visit nhs.uk/livewell/healthyhearts and bhf.org.uk.