Cardiac arrest patient saved by son and his girlfriend

Travel consultant Rachael Coyne was in safe hands when she collapsed in cardiac arrest at her son’s home in Lofthouse.

Realising his mum was unresponsive, Daniel Clapham called 999 for an ambulance while his girlfriend Rebecca Roberts, a veterinary care assistant, sprang into action to perform CPR.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service 999 call handler Jacqui Holden told Daniel where to locate a nearby defibrillator at local civil engineering and construction company Peter Duffy Limited and he raced to get the device. When he returned to his mum, a shock was advised and they activated the machine accordingly.

Two ambulances and a Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care arrived and Rebecca continued CPR while they unpacked their kit and they gave Rachael an additional shock to regulate her heart rhythm. She was taken to Pinderfields Hospital where she was in a coma for five days. She was discharged eight weeks later. Rachael had surgery to repair a faulty mitral valve and has also had an internal defibrillator fitted.

Rachael, who runs a travel agency, Jetset Not Just Travel, with her husband Colman, said: “I feel really lucky that I was at my son’s house when I collapsed, an hour earlier and I would have been in the car on my own, it doesn’t bear thinking about.

“Daniel was involved in the cubs and scouts when he was younger so had done first aid courses and Rebecca is a veterinary nurse so they both knew what they had to do to save my life. It’s paramount that everyone knows how to do CPR and use a defibrillator.”

To help Rachael, of Huddersfield, piece together the events of 25 February 2023, she was reunited with some of the ambulance staff who treated her that day, paramedics Kelly Hill and Hannah Broadbent and associate ambulance practitioners Annie Hudson and Gabriela Brocklesby (pictured above). She was also reunited with the call taker Jacqui Holden (pictured below).

Rachael, who was 55 when she had her cardiac arrest, said: “The reunion has helped me enormously as it was the missing piece of the jigsaw; I really wanted to find out what had happened to me that day. Since meeting with the ambulance staff who helped to save my life, I feel a lot better and it will help me to move on with my life.”

Jacqui added: “It was so lovely to meet Rachael and her family and hear that she has made a good recovery. We appreciate how distressing it can be to call 999 for someone in cardiac arrest but we are there to guide callers through how to do effective CPR and how they can access their nearest defibrillator. Daniel and Rebecca did a fabulous job.”

Rachael Coyne (second left) with, pictured from left, her husband Colman, call taker Jacqui Holden, her son Daniel Clapham and her son's girlfriend Rebecca Roberts