A Co. Limerick man has paid tribute to a former nurse who saved his life by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the side of a rural road.
John Davis from Murroe, who has worked on the dairy farm at Glenstal Abbey since he left school, fell to the ground after he suffered cardiac arrest at Abbington, Murroe, last October.
“I was off work that day but thought of going in to do a small job, but I didn’t in the end. I live on the grounds of Glenstal Abbey and my home place is at nearby Abbington. I decided to go there to do a few jobs,” said John.
“It’s on a bend on a busy road and I was sweeping leaves, just doing some light work. All I remember is that a neighbour Mike Holmes came up to me to talk to me and I started to fall back.”
Very tired
The 57-year-old said that he hadn’t been worrying about his health prior to the incident. “In hindsight, I had been feeling very tired but I put that down to being busy at work,” he said.
However, when former emergency nurse at Dublin’s Mater Hospital Lynda O Duinn came on the scene, she knew that the situation was serious. Mike had run onto the road and flagged down the first car that came along.
“I was on my way to see my son play in a GAA match and was speaking to my husband on speakerphone at the time,” said Lynda.
“I told him that there were two men on the road in what looked like a serious situation and that it looked like I would need to help. He told me to make sure to ring him back to let him know that I was safe,” said Lynda, who lives in Annacotty.
When she realised that John didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing, she immediately started to administer CPR. She also used a defibrillator which was brought to her from Murroe by PJ Holmes who has a shop in the village, and John was ‘shocked’ three times. A number of other people also assisted at the scene.
Lynda worked with the paramedics when they arrived and could see that John was trying to breathe, even though his colour was still purple.
When he was connected to the ECG, we could see that his heart was starting to beat but also that he had a significant cardiac event.
On arrival at University Hospital Limerick, a stent was inserted. Back at work since the week before Christmas, John said he is very grateful to Lynda, as well as everyone who helped at the scene and the hospital staff.
“Everyone acted so quickly. I was gone but Lynda brought me back. Once you’re in the system, it’s fantastic.”
Everything came together to save him, John said. “It was lucky that I didn’t go onto the farm that day as I wouldn’t have been found on time. It was only the second time that Lynda travelled that road.”
John said he was hugely appreciative that Lynda took the brave step of stopping on a rural road to help him. He said that his wife Margaret had kept in touch with Lynda and that they had all met at Christmas.
“It was very emotional. She is such a nice person and was exhausted after doing all the chest compressions. It was fantastic that she was able to do it. I’m very glad to be alive and grateful to local people and the monks at Glenstal who were very good to me when I was out sick.”
‘Skills anyone can learn’
Lynda said it was the first time she administered CPR outside of a hospital environment but stressed that CPR and using a defibrillator are skills that anyone can learn.
“The Irish Heart Foundation has a huge initiative at present, on training in the community on CPR. I would encourage everyone to learn CPR – it’s really basic – and also to know the location of their nearest defibrillator.”
While she said she hesitated about stopping that day, she is delighted that doing so had such an impact.
“I have three boys and John has two sons, Gavin and Adrian. Gavin is just 12 years-of-age. I wouldn’t like to think what life would have been like for them if their dad hadn’t made it. He is mad about farming and it’s tremendous that he was able to go back to work.
“He was one of the lucky ones as his chances of survival outside hospital were just 6%. It was one of those chance happenings that I was on the road but everyone can learn the simple and effective skill of CPR.”
Vincent Crowe, farm manager at Glenstal Abbey, said he is delighted that John made an excellent recovery and returned to work on the farm.
John’s knowledge and experience is invaluable. Recently, Glenstal Abbey was in receipt of the prestigious national milk quality award and John played a large part in achieving this. It is wonderful to have him back and in full health.
‘Hands for Life’ community CPR training is an Irish Heart Foundation programme which offers free CPR training in communities across Ireland. It aims to train 100,000 people in the lifesaving skill of CPR.
For information, see: www.irishheart.ie.