Woman's first go at CPR saves partner's life

A woman's quick thinking helped save the life of her partner after he suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep.

Sophie Bettles, from Underwood, Nottinghamshire, woke to discover Jack Dennis, had gone into cardiac arrest and immediately began performing CPR. Despite having no previous experience, she managed to restart his heart before emergency services arrived.

Jack, 25, suffered a second cardiac arrest while paramedics were treating him, requiring nine shocks from a defibrillator before his heart began beating effectively again.

Eight months later, the couple were reunited with the medical team who helped save Jack's life.

In the early hours of 23 March, Sophie was woken by an unusual noise coming from her partner as he lay beside her.

"Thankfully for Jack, I'm quite a light sleeper and have always suffered from a bit of insomnia. It was human instinct, knowing that the noise he made wasn't quite normal," she said.

"I turned the lights on and it looked like he was having a seizure. I realised that he wasn't breathing and the colour had gone from his face."

The 29-year-old called emergency services, who guided her through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), helping to restart Jack's heart before paramedics arrived.

"I had to get him on the floor, make sure he wasn't choking and start CPR. For the next 20 minutes, it all became a bit of a blur.

"That period is something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. You're waiting to find out if you'll ever have a conversation with your soulmate again. It was a strange feeling.

"I've never done a first aid course in my life. I had a strong idea from adverts about how to do CPR, and the call handler talked me through the key factors, including where to put my hands, how hard to push and the rhythm."

"It started to sink in when some of the ICU nurses told me that my gut instinct and starting CPR straight away is the only reason Jack is completely fine."

Doctors later confirmed that Jack had an un-diagnosed congenital heart defect. He underwent major surgery to replace his aortic valve and part of his aorta before being discharged from hospital in May. He returned to work as a plant engineer in August.

"I'll never be able to repay her, she knows that. She'll always have that one over me," he said, jokingly.

"I also can't thank the paramedics enough for saving me and being so good with Sophie."

Jack said he has no recollection of the cardiac arrest, with his last memories being from earlier that day when he had dropped off a friend.

"I remember going to sleep. It was a different day to normal. We'd had a friend round and we'd dropped him off. My last memory was going to sleep and then waking up a day and a half later in hospital," he said.

"I thought we'd been in a car accident because we spend a lot of time on the road. I hadn't assumed there was something as serious as a cardiac arrest.

"You see things like this in the media, but you never think it'll happen to you. It was crazy to comprehend.

"Everyone who's met her has called her a hero and made sure she knows she played a pivotal role in all of this. Without her quick thinking and her ability to perform CPR the way she did, I wouldn't be here."

Rosie Mitford was the emergency call handler who answered Sophie's urgent call.

"It was pretty scary. When they said Jack's age, it was very similar to mine, so there was a shock factor to the call.

"I remember a lot of shouting and a lot of panic, and just thinking about how to get an ambulance to them as quickly as we could. That call will always stay with me."

Paramedic Dan McChord was among the first to arrive and found Jack and Sophie in an upstairs bedroom.

"We went straight upstairs and Sophie was providing amazing CPR. She'd got him down on the floor and had started all the work for us. Jack's heart was actually beating again, which doesn't happen often for us," he said.

"Don't delay starting CPR. Every second counts in that moment. Sophie started right away and that means Jack is still here living his life.

"She was calm and level-headed, and all her work helped us plan for his future care. When he arrested again, we had to shock him nine times.

"This call stayed with all of us. We're all a similar age to Jack and we don't often get to find out how things play out. So when Sophie contacted us, we were really excited to see him again."

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