The incident took place two months ago in July. (Unsplash/representative photo)
An ambulance worker in Britain suffered a cardiac arrest while on duty and was rescued by his patient and a nurse. According to the BBCShaun McBride was about to transport 72-year-old Tommy Stewart from Glen O’Dee Hospital in Banchory to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary when he collapsed. Fortunately, despite being an amputee in a wheelchair, Mr Stewart managed to call for help, while nurse Freya Smith-Nicol administered CPR until another ambulance arrived.
According to the newspaper, the incident took place two months ago in July BBC. But now those involved in the tragedy that unfolded at the small community hospital in Aberdeenshire have been reunited and spoken out about the incident.
Recalling the incident, McBride, 56, said he had just secured Mr Stewart in his vehicle when he collapsed. “I heard a crash and all I saw was the top of Shaun’s head,” the patient said. “I said, ‘It’s collapsed’. But there was no way I could get to the horn because I was tied up. So the next thing was, roaring,” Mr Steward added.
The 72-year-old’s repeated screams were heard by a hospital attendant who ran outside to see what was happening. Nurse Freya Smith-Nicol was then quickly alerted and quickly realized there was “a lot of panic in the air”.
“I immediately knew something was wrong,” said the 28-year-old nurse, adding: “I thought it might be one of our patients, because you put two and two together, and you clearly didn’t expect that you would see Shaun.” over there.”
“It was quite a big shock. He was lying unconscious in the ambulance ramp,” Ms Freya recalled.
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The nurse revealed she then performed CPR on Mr McBride for 25 minutes. She used a defibrillator seven times as she fought to save him. “The paramedics showed up just as we were getting him back, so it was all pretty well timed,” she said.
Following the incident, Mr McBride was placed in an induced coma in intensive care. He pulled through and is now fitted with a defibrillator. He said he has no memory of what happened but thanked the patient and nurse for giving him “a new chance at life.”
“If it wasn’t for Tommy raising the alarm and the quick actions of Freya and the team, I wouldn’t be sitting here today,” he said. “Thank you for giving me another chance at life. My gratitude is forever. Live for today because you never know what tomorrow will bring,” he added.
Mr McBride now hopes to return to work next month. He said what happened has not only given him a second chance, but two new friends for life.
