A jogger who collapsed on a roadside near Highbridge after suffering a cardiac arrest has this week thanked the fire and ambulance crews who saved his life.
As first reported here in February, two off-duty firefighters were in Huntspill Road when they saw 35 year-old jogger Dan Garrett slumped on the ground.
The Burnham firemen, Rob Davey and Steve Pike, immediately put their first aid skills to use by giving Dan life-saving CPR.
A Burnham fire engine was also passing at the time, returning from flood relief work on the Somerset Levels, and the crew was also able to help Dan before the ambulance crews took over.
Dan, who lives nearby, was taken to Taunton’s Musgrove Hospital where he spent a week in intensive care and has made a good recovery.
He visited Burnham fire station this week, as pictured here, to thank the fire and ambulance crews who were involved in the incident.
Dan told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I don’t remember anything about collapsing, just setting off for a jog on a 3-4km run around the local area. I’d only just started jogging and hadn’t had problems like this before. It’s all a blur from there. I am hugely grateful to the crews who saved my life.”
“It’s difficult to put into words just how grateful I am, but it really brings it home to me when I consider that I wouldn’t have seen my children again if it hadn’t been for the crews’ quick work.”
Burnham firefighter Dick Solomon added: “The fates were certainly looking down on Dan that day. He was so lucky that the incident occurred in the view of two off-duty firemen who were able to give vital first aid so quickly and call for an ambulance to help him. It’s a great example of teams working together for a positive outcome.”
Chris Turner, Burnham ambulance station manager, added: “It’s great to see Dan looking so well again. A fast response really helped here – you can’t under-estimate the benefit of the patient getting early CPR during incidents like this – and we all worked closely to give Dan the very best chance of recovery.”
The Burnham ambulance team who helped Dan and got him to Musgrove also included Denise Richards, Neil Chadwick, Pete Weeks and Richard Bartholomew.
