Mum from Oxford encourages people to learn CPR after surviving cardiac arrest
A mum from Oxford survived a cardiac arrest thanks to the help of her daughters CPR training.
A mum of three from Oxford is encouraging people to learn CPR after her daughter helped save her life by starting the resuscitation procedure while waiting for an ambulance.
Mandy Claridge from Oxford suffered a cardiac arrest at her home in January and has since made a remarkable recovery.
At the time, the whole family stepped up with one daughter doing CPR after learning it in military training, another daughter running for the nearby AED, and her husband getting a neighbour who they knew was a retired medical professor.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Ms Claridge said: “I have no lasting effects from my cardiac arrest because she started CPR within the first minute.
“There are all sorts of things that could have happened to me that would have been with me for life if she hadn't known CPR.”
The first ambulance arrived just 6 minutes after the 999 call began and applied their defibrillator, giving Mandy one shock which was all it took to get her heart beating again.
Once in hospital, they identified she had an unusual type of heart attack and fitted a stent to open the blockage and was home 9 days later.
After joining cardiac arrest survivor groups on social media, she asked to meet with the crews who helped to save her life.
Mandy said: “It made me realise how lucky I am, how grateful I am and what a deeply valuable job that they do”.
She added that she hoped it was good for them to meet her too – to be able to see a success story from their work.
Since, the whole family have been on a CPR course and advocate for anyone else to learn this skill as it truly does save lives.
Mandy also says that the event has changed her whole outlook on life, and she will always be thankful to the crews for their part in saving her life.