John McKeown is now recovering at home with his family
A man who suffered a cardiac arrest at the wheel of his car is celebrating Christmas with his family after his life was saved by an off-duty nurse.
Father-of-three John McKeown collapsed in Liverpool on 11 November before a passer-by flagged down Demi Murphy.
The student nurse said: “I just jumped in his car and started doing CPR while he was in the driver’s seat.”
Mr McKeown’s partner Vicky Flattery added: “John literally wouldn’t be here today without everything Demi did.”
The day he stopped breathing was also the ninth anniversary of their baby son’s death.
Image source, Liverpool University Hospitals
Demi Murphy has been training as a nurse for three years
Ms Murphy, 21, was returning from a meal with friends when she was flagged down.
A friend rang for an ambulance while she performed resuscitation on Mr McKeown.
In the meantime, Ms Flattery had called him to see where he was and ended up speaking to Ms Murphy who tried to reassure her and ask about his medical history.
Ms Flattery said: “I’m not usually one to believe in fate but I was sure we were going to lose him, there was someone looking over us that day.”
Demi, who has worked at Royal Liverpool University Hospital for three years, said paramedics assisted with a defibrillator once they arrived.
“Once they had a pulse, he was put in the ambulance and taken to hospital.”
Mr McKeown, who is 37, was taken to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, where they discovered he had suffered a ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest, which is when the heart quivers instead of pumping normally.
He was taken immediately into intensive care because he had been starved of oxygen and suffered a seizure.
Surgeons fitted an implantable cardiac defibrillator which detects and stops irregular heartbeats.
Ms Flattery said her partner was recovering at home and “doesn’t have any memory of the incident or the few days before it happened, even some things that happened last month are hazy for him, but it could have been so much worse”.
“We’re just really thankful that Demi was in the right place at the right time and all the other paramedics and hospital teams worked to save John so he could come home to his children and his family.”
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