Dad saved by hero son’s gruelling CPR after heart attack

A Brisbane father has been given a second chance at life after his hero son kept his heart beating with relentless CPR until paramedics arrived after he suffered a heart attack at home.

Steve Preston meets paramedics, Alex Ewart, Ross Nihill and Jason Keen, who saved his life. Picture: Liam Kidston

A Bayside father has been given a second chance at life after his brave young son kept his heart beating with a relentless nearly 20 minutes of CPR, during a heart attack at home.

Steve Preston, 53, quit his job as an engineer to focus on his health last year after receiving a health warning from his doctor.

Mr Preston said he had become overweight after dedicating most of his time to his demanding engineering career.

“I made the conscious decision to start on a health regime and within a few months I lost about 20kg and trained towards the Bridge to Brisbane,” Mr Preston said.

In September last year, Mr Preston had enjoyed a night at home with family and friends to celebrate his birthday and headed off to bed feeling normal.

He then remembers waking up in the arms of a paramedic and his frantic wife, after surviving a heart attack and cardiac arrest.

His wife, Bronwyn Preston, said she nudged her husband just after 2am to stop him snoring.

Mr Preston was lying eyes wide open and ice cold after his heart attack.

“As soon as I touched him he was ice cold, wasn’t responding and his eyes were wide open,” Mrs Preston said.

“I was absolutely freaking out but tried to stay calm while on the phone to triple-0.”

Mrs Preston screamed out for their son Jacob after she became exhausted after a few minutes of following resuscitation directions.

Jacob, 21, performed CPR on his father who was bouncing on the bed for 18 minutes, breaking a couple of Mr Preston’s ribs in the process.

Jacob said he kept repeating the gym mentality of “one more rep” to himself while he endured the exhausting CPR.

“I was in shock but knew that this was what had to be done, I told myself to keep going,” Jacob said.

Mr Preston came back to consciousness after he was shocked by a defibrillator soon after the ambulance arrived.

Steve Preston meets the paramedics that saved his life, Eagleby. Picture: Liam Kidston

“The three paramedics kept communicating with us what they were doing and reassuring us, they were brilliant,” he said.

“They filled us with confidence when I was told they had me and I would be OK.”

Mr Preston miraculously left hospital just four days after, with stents placed in his heart and a few broken ribs.

The couple expressed their gratitude for the incredible work of the Queensland Ambulance service and encouraged CPR to be introduced into the education system.

“CPR is a life saving skill that we think should be offered as an elective or course at school as many teenagers will have parents around my age that this could happen to,” Mr Preston said.

“Jacob had done a course four years prior and it all came back to him.”

Mr and Mrs Preston met with the paramedics who saved his life on Saturday to express their gratitude.

Steve Preston with his wife Bronwyn and sons Jacob, 21 and Ben, 17, meet with paramedics Alex Ewart, Jason Keen, and Ross Nihill, who saved his life, Eagleby. Picture: Liam Kidston

Critical care paramedic Ross Nihill said he attended more than 100 heart attacks at home and had never seen a patient survive without long term damage.

“It’s as rare as rare,” Mr Nihill said.

“I was beating his heart for him while walking them through what we were doing.

“This is just part of the job for us, but the son doing CPR on his dad would have been scary and he was doing well.”

Mr Nihill said he enjoyed reuniting with the couple.

“It’s great to see how this event has changed their life for the better,” Mr Nihill said.

The couple expressed their gratitude for the incredible work of the Queensland Ambulance service and encouraged CPR to be introduced into the education system.

“CPR is a life saving skill that we think should be offered as an elective or course at school as many teenagers will have parents around my age that this could happen to,” Mr Preston said.

“Jacob had done a course four years prior and it all came back to him.

Mr Preston said the full time whistle has gone and he was now in “extra time”, enjoying every moment of life.

Originally published as Dad saved by hero son’s gruelling CPR after heart attack