A WOMAN whose step-dad’s life was saved by a CPR-trained next-door neighbour is carrying the torch for the Knutsford First Responders after the incident which left her in shock.

When Claire McCluney’s step-dad went into cardiac arrest on the drive home from her daughter’s dance show, she called her neighbour Sylvia Thomas, a Heartstart course trainer, for help.

After Sylvia was able to restart the 74-year-old’s heart with the help of chest compressions and a defibrillator, Claire decided to start spreading the word and has since taken the course herself.

“He wasn’t feeling well during the performance,” Claire said, thinking back to the incident which occurred outside her Queensway home around 9.30pm on Friday, September 22.

“As we were driving home we pulled up and he went into cardiac arrest – I thought it was a fit or something like that – and went straight to Sylvia knowing she is a paramedic and has first aid training.

“She came straight away and pulled him out of the car – he was unconscious and unresponsive so she started CPR. After one shock he started to come around, and he was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary’s heart attack centre before being released almost three weeks later.

“I have been telling people to go on the Heartstart course, and trying to publicise it. It’s free to do the training, and people really need to know about it.

“If you are faced with that situation, it’s really important to have a bit of knowledge. The course is really helpful and hands-on.”

Sylvia said the incident, which went on for around 12 minutes before the ambulance arrived, has spurred the first responders on to push for more publicly-available defibrillators around town.

She said: “Fortunately, I had a defibrillator in the house on loan from my work as a paramedic.

“My husband brought it over and we put the pads on as per instruction. It advised to give a shock.

“We carried on CPR and in three minutes he started to show signs of life. We kept on working and all the time the ambulance service was on the phone – it arrived in eight minutes and by the time he was loaded into the vehicle he was fully alert.

“It’s rare that CPR actually restarts the heart, but working together the defibrillator and CPR can bring people back. They go together, the two of them.

“It’s worth taking a Heartstart course because it can happen to anyone, young or old. If you are trained in the basics you can start the process and keep the organs alive until the defibrillator arrives.

“You just don’t know when it will happen to somebody you know and somebody you love. He was a very lucky man and I am glad it was successful for the family.”

As well as running regular Heartstart courses, the Knutsford Community First Responders Trust organises cardiac screening days in association with Cardiac Risk in the Young.

The trust, which relies on donations and partnerships for all of its work, also works to provide defibrillators in the town while also providing emergency first responder services.

Visit heartstartknutsford.co.uk