A man who suffered a cardiac arrest while taking part in a local fun run has been reunited with the off-duty paramedic who helped save his life.
Graeme Martin, 65, and his partner Lori, were taking part in the Gillingham parkrun at the Great Lines Park in Kent on December 23, 2023.
A short while into the race, Graeme, from Rainham, went into cardiac arrest and collapsed.
Meanwhile, Medway paramedic Chris Treves, who was participating in the race with his dog Clara, came across Graeme lying on the floor surrounded by other runners.
He said: “Clara was having a nervous day, and so we were running slower than usual.
“At the first half kilometre mark, I noticed a fellow runner on the floor and made my way towards them to see if they needed help.
“As I neared, he appeared to be having a seizure, so I quickly got onto the ground to check his pulse and breathing. I then confirmed with the other passers-by that Graeme had no pulse and was not breathing.”
Chris and two off-duty nurses sprang into action and began providing medical assistance and CPR.
Run organisers located the community defibrillator and Chris was able to administer a shock to the Graeme.
Chris’ CPR efforts continued until ambulance colleagues arrived on the scene and the team were able to achieve a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).
Further investigations confirmed that Graeme needed airlifting to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Graeme said: “I owe Chris and the team a huge thank you for ultimately saving my life, I wouldn’t be here today without them.”
Since the incident, Graeme has been recovering well and is keen to spread the word that hand to chest time is key to saving lives.
The 65-year-old and his partner have since attended an event specifically hosted for parkrun volunteers to help them gain CPR skills.
The event took place at SECAmb’s Make Ready Centre in Medway, whereby the couple were joined by 24 parkrun volunteers to learn how to restart a heart and perform CPR.
Graeme added: “This was a fantastic initiative organised by Chris, in the hopes that future parkrun volunteers can help to restart a heart with these life-saving skills if needed.”
“I was thrilled to be hosting the event at our Medway Make Ready Centre, and to have Graeme there fit and well was fantastic to see,” Chris added.
“It fills me with confidence that our parkrun volunteers are now equipped to perform these lifesaving skills should they need to in the future.”
