Restart a Heart Day: Ipswich man kept alive by strangers after cardiac arrest

An Ipswich man is lucky to be alive after suffering a cardiac arrest while driving and has thanked QAS officers and bystanders for the role they played in his survival. FULL STORY:

A group of Ipswich-based strangers who united to save a life have reconnected to reflect on the frightening experience and its lucky outcome.

Gary Campbell, 69, was driving home to Blacksoil from Hervey Bay one mid-July afternoon when his head suddenly fell forward, his car veered off the road, and he crashed into a wall.

He had suffered a cardiac arrest.

“We were just heading into town and got to the roundabout at the top of the hill and that’s when it happened,” Mr Campbell said.

“We pulled up, I let a car come across the bridge, and that’s the last thing I remember.”

Mr Campbell’s partner Denise Scott had been sitting in the passenger seat of the car at the time and said she frantically picked up the phone and dialled triple-0.

“I was hysterical, screaming down the phone for them to hurry,” Ms Scott said.

“I was screaming ‘it’s his heart, hurry, hurry’.”

Gary Campbell and wife Denise Scott. Picture: Jessica Baker

Walloon resident Gayelene Cocks was driving along Pine Mountain Rd when Mr Campbell’s car swerved past.

“He hit the sign, went over the median strip and then into the brick wall and bounced back,” Ms Cocks said.

“As soon as his head went down I knew there was a problem.”

She said she jumped out of the car and checked Mr Campbell’s pulse only to find there was none.

Ms Cocks took the phone from Ms Scott, talked the paramedics through the situation, and commenced CPR.

“I started telling them what was going on,” Ms Cocks said.

“He was clammy, not breathing, blue around the lips and he had no pulse.”

After about 10 minutes, a team of paramedics arrived on scene to pull Mr Campbell from his car.

Springfield Ambulance Station advanced care paramedic Alysha Borowski, Gary Campbell, and Ipswich Ambulance Station critical care paramedic Nicholas Abussi. Picture: Jessica Baker

They continued resuscitation, delivered 10 shocks, and he was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital and induced into a coma where he remained for three days.

After three weeks, Mr Campbell received an implantable defibrillator and was able to leave the hospital.

“They told me I had about eight broken ribs and my sternum was cracked,” Mr Campbell said.

Paramedics Nicholas Abussi and Alysha Borowski said the immediate help Mr Campbell received from Ms Cocks, an off-duty nurse, a council worker, and other bystanders significantly contributed to his survival.

Bystander Gayelene Cocks. Picture: Jessica Baker

“You had a number of good cards in your hand,” Mr Abussi said to Mr Campbell.

“The fact that it happened in a public place, that’s really rare. Only about 20 per cent of cardiac arrests happen in public places.

“The CPR you got from bystanders was a big part of it and allowed us to do what we needed to do.”

Mr Abussi, a critical care paramedic based at the Ipswich Ambulance Station, said he attends cardiac arrest incidents once every three shifts.

“Just before I went on holidays, I did two or three in my last week,” he said.

“None of them survived. But that’s the unfortunate reality. Only 10 per cent of people survive.”

Advanced care paramedic Ms Borowski said Mr Campbell was “very lucky”.

With Saturday October 16 being Restart a Heart Day, Mr Campbell’s experience is a timely reminder to ensure all families are CPR-trained and know what to do in the event of an emergency.

Mr Abussi and Ms Borowski recommended two phone applications, including EmergencyPlus and What3Words, so that its users can locate and report emergencies more accurately.