Toowoomba man Denis Duffy thanks Queensland Ambulance Service on Gold Coast after miraculous survival
A family dinner took a terrifying turn when Denis Duffy suffered a cardiac arrest, relying on his stepdaughter’s quick-thinking during a harrowing 30-minute ordeal. Here’s what happened next.
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What started as a family reunion in Broadbeach turned into a near-death experience for Denis Duffy.
The Toowoomba resident had arrived on the Gold Coast with wife Barb to visit Barb’s daughter Breanna Irwin.
Shortly after their arrival the family dinner quickly turned into a nightmare when Denis suddenly went into cardiac arrest.
“We arrived down at the Gold Coast at about 5.30pm, we were having dinner at 6pm and then I just passed out at the table – that’s all I can remember,” Denis said.
Barb said her husband turned purple and slumped over, not breathing and unresponsive.
She dialled triple-0 with Breanna performing lifesaving CPR until paramedics arrived.
“I’m a health and physical education teacher so I do CPR training every year for work,” Breanna said.
“It’s obviously very different doing it in training – doing it on a family member. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
Denis’ step daughter performed CPR for a gruelling 20 minutes with the over-the-phone help of emergency medical dispatcher Holly Taylor, saving his life.
“The biggest mistake people make is that they don’t push hard enough on someone’s chest,” Breanna said.
“So I was saying to myself, ‘break his ribs, break his ribs,’ for 15 to 20 minutes because the first paramedic came solo as his partner was sick that day, so he was doing vitals and hooking up the defibrillator, so I did the compressions until the other paramedics came.”
Critical care paramedic Ebony Nichols was second to the scene, joining advanced care paramedic Gavin Nichols.
“When I arrived Denis’s step daughter was doing CPR, really good effective CPR,” Gavin said.
“He was in a shockable rhythm, so we shocked him two times, and then the next layers of care arrived and continued.”
Ebony said treatment went on for some time, lasting 30 minutes until his heart started beating again, but went back into cardiac arrest.
“We had to defib him again which brought him back for a second time,” Ebony said.
“We were quite concerned that this was going to be unsurvivable from all the feedback we were getting at the start of the job and for those first 20 to 30 minutes.”
The critical care paramedic said “miraculously”, he survived.
“All the treatment that we were providing, the airway that Gav had secured and all our basic care had an effect and his heart started being again on its own.”
The care team along with Denis and his family were reunited on Monday 10 months on, providing Denis the opportunity to thank the heroes that saved his life.
“It’s good to come back and see them,” Denis said.
“These guys they do a wonderful job – I couldn’t thank them enough.”
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Originally published as Toowoomba man Denis Duffy thanks Queensland Ambulance Service on Gold Coast after miraculous survival
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