Sutton Husband’s Quick-Thinking CPR Saves Wife After Sudden Cardiac Arrest at Home
By Health Correspondent
A Sutton man has been hailed for his life-saving actions after he performed CPR on his wife when she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at their home—helping to save her life before emergency crews arrived.
Chris, 54, called 999 after his wife Kat, 47, collapsed in the bathroom and stopped breathing.
Following real-time instructions from the call handler at the London Ambulance Service, he began chest compressions that kept her alive until paramedics reached the scene.
Chris described the terrifying moment he found his wife unconscious.
“There was a thudding noise and I shouted to see if she was alright but didn’t get a response,” he said.
“I came in and found her draped backwards over the bath, she looked very grey and her eyes were rolled back into her head.
“I thought she was dead. It was so frightening.”
After checking for a pulse and finding none, Chris immediately dialled 999. With guidance from the call handler, he began CPR, with the operator counting compressions over the phone.
Emergency response and defibrillator shocks
A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body, cutting off oxygen to vital organs and requiring immediate intervention.
Crews from the London Ambulance Service arrived shortly afterwards and delivered several shocks using a defibrillator before stabilising Kat.
She was then transported to St George's Hospital in Tooting for further emergency treatment.
Paramedics later confirmed that without Chris’s immediate CPR, Kat would not have survived.
Recently, Kat and Chris were reunited with the paramedics who treated her on the day—Liam Herneman, Andrew Elphinstone, and Kelly Strugnell.
Kat said meeting the team was deeply moving.
“It was so lovely to meet the crews and meet the people who saved me that day,” she said. “I’m so grateful to them for all their efforts.”
Andrew Elphinstone, Advanced Paramedic in Critical Care at the London Ambulance Service, praised Chris’s swift response.
“If Chris hadn’t done CPR then Kat would have had a different outcome. Everything he did helped save her life,” he said.
He also urged Londoners to learn CPR:
“I’d strongly urge Londoners to learn how to do CPR by signing up to become a Londoner Lifesaver. You never know when you might need to help someone you love.”
London-wide push for more lifesavers
The London Ambulance Service is working to make the capital a city of lifesavers by offering CPR and defibrillator training to communities, schools, and organisations.
Meanwhile, the London Ambulance Charity’s Heart Starters campaign is rolling out 200 public access defibrillators across London neighbourhoods where access to life-saving equipment is limited.
