Colin Harley

Steve Harley – Colin’s son 

“On the day it happened I was working from home. I had a call from my mum who seemed quite distressed that my dad had collapsed. Luckily enough I live just down the road. I ran down the road and found him after his dog walk just lying unresponsive in the garage with the dog around him not quite sure what was going on.

There was no immediate response from him and I carried out the CPR on him while I managed to get my mum, in her distraught state, to ring 999. After a period of time we managed to get secondary help from an ambulance. Then KSS Air Ambulance was called. We managed to stabilise my father but after initial assessments from the doctor from the Air Ambulance decision was made to put my dad into an induced coma and fly him into King’s in London.

I think everyone knows about KSS. It’s one of those services that you are grateful exists, you never really want to have to use it, but you’re very thankful it’s there.

You want to do everything for your loved one that you can to make sure that they are ok. We were very lucky that KSS was available and managed to get there.

Over the years I’ve had many different lots of first aid training, starting with the Scouts, but also in particular jobs. CPR is one of those things that you learn that you never really think that you will use, you never actually want to use.

From my experience now, it’s very different doing it on a dummy to doing it in real life. Having said that, I was lucky that the skills and processes that I learned I managed to put into action that day.

In the heat of the moment there’s a lot of things that go through your mind – ‘this is my father, is this how it’s going to end?’ – all of the things like that. Having knowledge of CPR you’ve got to get in there and get on with it.

Everyone wants to do the best for their family, so it’s important for people to understand that and have it in the back of their mind.

I would encourage people just to have that knowledge. If you have an opportunity to learn CPR, you may only have to learn it once in your life but it will give you a chance to do something if you are ever put in that situation.

The chances are quite high that if you have to do CPR it will be on someone you know or family member, but you have to get rid of the emotion.”

Dr Magnus Nelson from KSS who treated Colin said: “SECAmb manage most cardiac arrests without us, but may call us where a patient is resuscitated and subsequently requires an anaesthetic to help manage their condition.

“Colin’s story shows just how important CPR from a bystander can be. Without Steve’s intervention, it’s unlikely he would have survived. Even if you have not learned CPR, the 999 call handler can tell you what to do. Don’t be afraid to step forward – you could save a life.”