Teenage cardiac arrest survivor encourages Londoners to learn how to save a life

Teenage cardiac arrest survivor encourages Londoners to learn how to save a life  

A teenager whose life was saved by strangers while Christmas shopping is backing London Ambulance Service’s mission to train a generation in life-saving skills.

 

Connor Clarke was just 19-years-old when he collapsed in cardiac arrest last December.

Fortunately, other shoppers rushed to help him including an off-duty nurse and GP who started CPR. A security guard quickly brought the shopping centre’s defibrillator and used it on Connor.

London Ambulance Service has given free training to thousands of people in how to recognise cardiac arrest, perform chest compressions – also known as CPR – and how to use a defibrillator.

The London Lifesavers Campaign also sees paramedics visit schools to teach Year 8 children these vital skills.

Connor, a university student, said: “It is crucial to know CPR even on a basic level because anything could happen to anyone at any time.

“To be in a situation like that and know you can help is really important.”

The strangers who performed CPR on Connor after he collapsed allowed the blood and oxygen to keep pumping through his body until an ambulance arrived.

Paramedic Ian Pullen said: “The bystanders in Connor’s case were doing such an amazing job at starting the chain of survival.”

A defibrillator delivers a shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm. Connor needed five shocks before his heart started beating again.

A team from London Ambulance Service took him to hospital by which time he was recovering so well, it was difficult for the hospital to understand what had happened.

Advanced paramedic Andy Whitehouse said: “We had to go back and show them the download from the monitor he had been on because he appeared to be so well. That will partly be down to the excellent CPR he was given straight away.”

Connor spent six days in hospital before being discharged home. After the Christmas holidays he was back at university studying economics.

But on his Easter break he visited New Malden Ambulance Station to meet some of the team who helped to save his life including Andy, Ian and paramedics Jessie Keenan and Connor Looney.

Andy added: “It’s great to see Connor doing so well. As an advanced paramedic, I attend many cardiac arrest and sadly not everyone survives.

“It was so lucky in Connor’s case that his cardiac arrest happened where it did, with those people around him and when it did – every star aligned – but that’s also why it is so incredibly important to teach these skills and have access to public defibrillators.”

London Lifesavers is funded through a grant provided by NHS Charities Together to our charity, London Ambulance Charity. If you would like to support this work visit our Just Giving page or our dedicated campaign webpage for more information.