Suffolk man reunited with leisure centre staff who saved his life

Mark Saunders, aged 47 from Bury St Edmunds was an Abbeycroft Leisure Centre member and had been for a swim at the leisure centre as he regularly did, when he suddenly collapsed in the changing room and became unresponsive.

Duty Officer, Carl Deeks and lifeguard Jack Eatly, together with centre manager Julie Hughes acted quickly and began administering CPR on rotation, as well as shocking Mark’s heart with a defibrillator within a couple of minutes.

The team followed their training professionally and effectively, carrying out all the necessary steps to keep Mark alive until paramedics arrived, when he was then taken to Papworth Hospital where he underwent surgery to insert a stent.

Mark recently returned to the leisure centre after requesting to meet the staff that had saved his life, because he couldn’t remember hardly anything that had happened and he wanted to thank them personally.

Mark recalls: “I’m just so incredibly grateful that the Abbeycroft staff were so well trained and did what they did so efficiently. The surgeon at Papworth even told me that he didn’t think I would have survived the cardiac arrest if I hadn’t been where I was and treated by staff who knew exactly what to do.”

“It’s so strange, but I honestly can’t remember anything that happened that day at all, so having the opportunity to meet the staff involved and thank them has been very emotional but very important to me.”

Julie Hughes, Abbeycroft’s centre manager said, “It was very special meeting up with Mark again and we were all quite emotional, but it was great to see him recovering so well. We undergo rigorous training with the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) for this type of incident and we all felt very calm and prepared, but it wasn’t until after the Air Ambulance crew left with Mark that the realisation of what had happened started to evolve. I’m so proud of the team for how they responded.”

Warren Smyth, chief executive at Abbeycroft said, “Seeing how well Mark is recovering was a huge boost for us all and must be such a relief for his family and friends. We are incredibly proud of our staff, they showed skill, professionalism and empathy for everyone involved.”

Cllr Ian Shipp, Cabinet Member for Leisure at West Suffolk Council said, “This incident is a strong reminder of how important life-saving skills such as CPR are but also the courage and compassion that the training helps give that was so ably shown by Abbeycroft staff. It is thanks to the fast and effective actions of Carl Deeks, Jack Eatly and Julie Hughes, that Mark is with us today. Their experience just goes to show how valuable such skills and training are and the care they have for our local community.”

Josh Lawrence, Community CPR Training Programme Manager at East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), says, “Many lives can be saved each year by the combination of early bystander CPR and defibrillation, advanced critical care at the scene, followed by a rapid transfer to hospital. Mark’s story demonstrates the life-saving difference bystanders can make by starting the chain of survival as soon as possible.”

The out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate in the UK is around 8% if only resuscitation/CPR is attempted. If a defibrillator is used alongside effective CPR within the first 3-5 minutes, the chances of survival can increase to between 40% – 70%.

Josh continues, “EAAA aims to educate and raise awareness of life-saving defibrillator and CPR skills in the community to improve patient outcomes in the event of a cardiac arrest. The charity offers free one-hour training to local communities to equip more people with the skills, knowledge and confidence to potentially become somebody else’s life-saver.”

Mark continues to recover well and has been off work as a scaffolder since the incident, but is hoping to return once he has had permission from the cardiac rehab team at West Suffolk Hospital.