A man from Great Manchester has acknowledged ambulance staff on International Paramedics Day (8th July) as he says: “I’m lucky to be alive.”
International Paramedics Day gives people the opportunity to acknowledge all the important work that paramedics and emergency staff have done in the local community.
Launched in 2022, International Paramedics Day is held on July 8th every year - the date marks the birth of Dominique-Jean Larrey who is referred to as the ‘father of modern-day ambulance services’.
This year's theme is “the difference we make,” and one man who it made a difference for was Chris Edwards, who praised the ambulance staff for saving his life.
READ MORE: Manchester woman celebrates landmark birthday turning 100
On the morning of December 16 2018, in Sale, Chris had been lying in bed after waking up when his heart stopped beating.
But fortunately for Chris he wasn’t alone, his partner Helen was quick to call 999, and with the instructions from the call handler, she was able to perform CPR as the crew made its way to the scene.
Chris’ heart was able to be restarted thanks to Senior Paramedics Dan and Craig, and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) Heather and Gary.
The team were able to shock Chris’ heart with a defibrillator, before he was taken to hospital for further treatment, where it was discovered he had an underlying heart condition.
He has since had a heart device fitted and fully recovered.
With Chris fully recovered from the near death experience, he and his family invited Heather, Craig, and Daniel to his house to thank them for their role in saving his life.
Chris went on to praise them saying: “I’m lucky to be alive, and these people deserve a huge amount of recognition. It’s quite easy for some people to do a job and put it to bed when they go home, but it’s not an ordinary job that they do.
“It sounds cliché, but they’re heroes, and I’m eternally grateful for what they have done for me!”
One of Chris’ heroes, Senior Paramedic Criag Scott said: “As paramedics and EMTs, we deal with a whole host of things, but ultimately, what we did that day is what everyone joins the service to do.”
He continued by adding: “And that is to create a good and positive outcome for the patient.”
Senior Paramedic Daniel Law added: “It’s very rare that we get to meet patients we’ve treated.
“We sometimes get informed through the service that they’ve been discharged from the hospital. But it’s rare to meet them face-to-face, so meeting him and seeing how well he is doing is really amazing.”
