'Ambos saved my life': Gandma returns to thank trio

IT'S NOT every day Ipswich paramedics get a personal thank you from one of their many patients.

SIMPLY THE BEST: Glenice Haywood got the opportunity to thank her "heroes", paramedics Rhys Warwick and David Martin. Picture: Rob Williams

IT'S NOT every day Ipswich paramedics get a personal thank you from one of their many patients.

Raceview grandmother Glenice Haywood was so seriously ill on the afternoon of June 23 that she could not even remember the faces of the three men credited with saving her life.

She suffered difficulty breathing as a result of a pre-existing condition known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

In a state of panic, she desperately phoned daughter Tamara Harrison.

By that time, her breathing had deteriorated so badly that the only words she was able to get out were, "Help Me”.

Over the course of the next few critical minutes, Ipswich paramedics Rhys Warwick, Simeon Coates and David Martin rushed to administer life-saving treatment, after receiving the triple-0 call from Ms Harrison.

"She was seriously sick; it was full-on,” Mr Martin said.

"She had gone into an altered state of conciousness by the time we saw her.

"We had to administer quite a lot of treatment to try to open up that airway again.

"It was certainly that early triple-0 call that saved her life, and the fact that Rhys and Simeon recognised early on how serious she was.”

Mrs Haywood, who yesterday labelled the trio of paramedics as "heroes”, said she had no memories of their life-saving intervention.

"I just want to personally thank you for what you did,” Mrs Haywood told Mr Warwick and Mr Martin when she met them at Ipswich Ambulance Station yesterday.

"I don't remember anything. I only just managed to get my phone and ring Tamara. I knew if I called triple-0 they would need to ask my name and address and I was in such a bad state I knew I wouldn't be able to tell them that information.”

Mrs Haywood was stabilised within about an hour, spending the following five days in Ipswich Hospital.

She described the experience as a wake-up call to take better care of herself and has already lost 5kg since the scare.

"It has been a real life-changer for me,” she said.

"The past five weeks have been a big change.”

Mr Martin said paramedics rarely had the opportunity to catch up with patients, but it was always a welcome surprise.

"A lot of the time we don't get recognised; it is usually the hospital or someone else who gets the credit,” he said.

"It is great to see, especially when the patient's condition improves as much as Mrs Haywood's.”