I never dreamed that I’d need the services of KSS, but one day in April 2020, all that changed.
It was a nice day and I decided to go for a bike ride around our village of West Kingsdown. I’d just turned onto the main road and… well, that was the last thing I can remember.
I later learnt that I’d had a cardiac arrest and crashed my bike. I was dying, and my fight for survival had begun.
Thanks to the generosity of people in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, our local Air Ambulance saved my life The car behind me stopped and the passengers immediately called the emergency services.
A KSS dispatcher listening in to that call made sure their helicopter and crew were on their way.
Then a second car stopped and, fortunately, one of the passengers knew how to perform CPR. He kept me alive for 18 minutes.
When the Air Ambulance arrived just four minutes later, the incredibly skilled and professional KSS team swung into action.
KSS always have a paramedic and a specialist emergency doctor on board, as well as a huge amount of essential equipment and medicine. That means I was given treatment by the roadside that is normally only available in a hospital A&E department. Along with the fact that KSS got there so quickly, their critical care is one of the main reasons why I survived when most other cardiac arrest sufferers don’t.
In order to protect against brain injury from lack of oxygen, the KSS team put me into an induced coma. I’d also fractured my skull despite wearing a helmet, and had multiple rib fractures.
When I was stable, I was flown to King’s College Hospital in London for further treatment.
KSS urgently needs your support today to improve people’s chances of survival. Thanks to the skill and speed of the KSS team and the prompt action of the people who stopped to help me, I not only survived but made a full recovery. I will forever be thankful to KSS and everyone who helped me that day, which is why I’m writing to ask if you’ll help save the lives of people like me in the future.
