Tony Hill saved by colleagues after cardiac arrest

Neil Molyneux, Tony Hill and John Fieldhouse

Tony Hill, from Rochdale, was saved by colleagues using a defibrillator after he suffered a life-threatening cardiac arrest whilst working on site at Renaker Build.

Fortunately for Tony, 74, the company had purchased two defibrillators and trained staff at each site on how to use them, increasing confidence in the event of having to use one in an emergency.

Two of Tony’s colleagues, Neil Molyneux and John Fieldhouse, both participated in the defibrillator training and were on site when Tony suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

Upon assessing Tony, Neil retrieved the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), which had only been installed four weeks prior to his collapse, they began the process to revive him. Thanks to the defibrillator being on site and the actions of lifesavers John and Neil, Tony, who had emergency surgery following the collapse, is still here today to tell his story.

Tony said: “Without that defibrillator and the actions of John and Neil, I would not be here today. I am very grateful that we had the defibrillator on site, which we had only got a few weeks before. Even if the defibrillators are not ever used again, they have already saved my life. I am truly lucky.

"I have been back in to see the team since my collapse and am looking forward to going back to catch up with everyone, especially Neil and John.”

Lifesaver Neil said: “I had really enjoyed the training with Defibshop [the defib supplier], and as a result I felt more confident when Tony collapsed to use the defibrillator.

"All the team are really pleased with the outcome and with Tony’s recovery and that we had the defibrillator available to use. They are easy to use and tell you what to do, and I think they should be everywhere.”

The only definitive treatment for a victim of cardiac arrest is immediate CPR and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). If treatment is given three to five minutes following collapse, the chance of survival drastically improves from 6% to 74%. For every minute that passes without treatment, the survival rate drops by 10%.