Chichester man saved by CPR after Park Run heart attack urges more of us to learn
David Knowles says "he wouldn't be here today" if no one helped after his collapse back in November
A Chichester man whose life was saved after he had a heart attack following a run is urging more of us to learn CPR.
57-year-old David Knowles was resting after completing his 185th Park Run when he collapsed suddenly.
His life was saved by off-duty paramedic Alice Cox-Rusbridge - who had just completed the run herself and began CPR after noticing David was in trouble.
Recalling the moment paramedics arrived and a defibrillator shocked him back to consciousness, David said it would be "unlikely he would be here today" without their quick-thinking:
"“It was clear that it was a real team effort and shows the importance of bystander CPR.
"It’s absolutely essential, in my view, that in order to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, more people need to learn and be willing to perform CPR and I would urge everyone to take the time to learn how to save a life.”
"It doesn't take a huge amount of time to learn to do CPR, everyone, including young people and teenagers can learn to do it.
"It's so important, that basic knowledge could easily save a life."
Alice and David have caught up since the incident, she said "it's lovely" David is "doing so well":
"We both run for the same club so knew each other but we’ve now become good friends.
"Carrying out a resuscitation on a patient when you’re off duty is very different and you don’t have much time to think like you would en route to an incident. Everyone involved, right from the start, did a great job."
She said it takes "less than 15 minutes" to learn CPR:
"There's lots and lots of resources online and on YouTube.
"The best ones are the British Heart Foundation Learn CPR in 15 minutes. There's something called the Revivr app on their page."
She also advises looking for sessions with St John's Ambulance.