Yellow Wiggle Greg Page saved by off-duty nurse Grace Jones after cardiac arrest

Off-duty nurse Grace Jones was enjoying the show, when she noticed something wasn’t quite right with the Yellow Wiggle.

Off-duty nurse Grace Jones saved Greg Page's life after his on-stage cardiac arrest.

Off-duty nurse Grace Jones was laughing along with the crowd, smiling up at children’s band The Wiggles, and calling for them to perform just one more chorus of their timeless tune “Hot Potato,” when her eyes – trained to detect the slightest change in a person’s stature – noticed something was not quite right with Yellow Wiggle Greg Page.

Seconds later, Page, who suffers from circulatory system disorder, stumbled and collapsed on-stage at the Castle Hill RSL in Sydney on Friday night.

“I saw him go down behind the stage,” Ms Jones said on Saturday. “I asked one of the security guards if they needed help, they said yes, so I went up and when I walked around the curtain he looked really unwell and he wasn’t breathing.”

The jubilant crowd, blissfully unaware Page’s life was in imminent danger, continued to cheer the band on, as Ms Jones, 23, joined two bystanders who were performing CPR on Page backstage.

“He wasn’t breathing so I just went in and did a little CPR and then someone handed me the defibrillator,” Ms Jones said.

A newly minted nurse at Royal North Shore Hospital, Ms Jones worked furiously on Page for 20 minutes, delivering three shocks with a defibrillator before paramedics arrived.

Meet Grace Jones! Grace saves the life of the original Yellow Wiggle last night! If not for Grace, Greg Page would not be here today. @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/8oBUg5zN2g

— Peter Fegan (@PeterFegan7) January 18, 2020

Ms Jones, a fan of The Wiggles since childhood, said it was a “stressful,” high-pressure situation, and a world away from the well-equipped emergency room of her employer, Royal North Shore Hospital.

“If this happens at work I have countless amounts of nurses and doctors around me working all together,” she said. “It’s like a well-oiled machine, whereas this situation I was by myself and that hasn’t happened to me before.”

NSW Ambulance Paramedic Brian Parsell said Ms Jones, along with the two bystanders who helped her save Page’s life, were nothing short of “heroes.”

“The hero of the story here today is Grace,” Mr Parsell said. “Greg is here because she was brave enough to step forward.”

Mr Parsell said Page suffered a coronary occlusion, a blockage of one of the main blood vessels in his heart, which resulted in a cardiac arrest.

To survive a heart attack of the type Page suffered “every minute” is critical, Mr Parsell said. As each minute passes, the person inches closer to death and their chances of survival drop significantly.

He said Ms Jones intervened at a critical point in the “chain of survival.”

“Three to five minutes is that absolute pivotal period where we actually need to intervene,” he said.

Ms Jones described the situation as “a bit surreal,” and said she had not expected to find herself on the stage’s wooden floor performing CPR at “a Wiggles concert.”

The decisive action of Page’s colleagues, Ms Jones’s quick-thinking, and the availability of a defibrillator, have all been credited with saving Page’s life.

“Had the team that was on site not commenced CPR, had Grace not had the courage to use that defibrillator then we may have been dealing with a different outcome,” Mr Parsell said.

The young nurse said she woke up this morning “wondering if he was still alive,” but her fears were quickly quelled when she came across a photograph of Page in hospital giving a thumbs-up sign.

Bushfire relief concert to go ahead

The Wiggles have confirmed their bushfire relief concert will go ahead tonight after Yellow Wiggle Greg Page urged his bandmates to push on with the show despite the “serious” cardiac arrest he suffered on stage on Friday night.

Page, the original yellow Wiggle, issued the plea from Westmead Hospital in Sydney, where he is recovering after collapsing on-stage during the band’s sold out concert at Castle Hill RSL.

“He didn’t want to let all the fans down which is surprising considering he is in a hospital bed,” director Ben Alcott told The Herald Sun.

“You would think he would be worried about his health. But he is the one who asked for the show to go ahead.”

Anthony Field outside Westmead Hospital. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Anthony Field, the original blue Wiggle, said the band would on Saturday night “raise the roof for Greg,” as well as the country’s firefighters, the Australian Red Cross and WIRES.

“I love this man,” Field wrote on Twitter. “So glad he is still with us … CPR by Kimmy Antonelli and Steve Pace (our drummer) helped save Greg’s life.”

The Wiggles also released a photo of Page in hospital giving the thumbs up, along with a message announcing that tonight’s sold-out reunion show would go ahead without him.

“We’ve visited Greg this morning and he wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes,” the group said in an updated statement on Saturday afternoon.

“He’s so grateful for the messages of love and support from around the world.”

“Greg’s main concern was that the show tonight should go on. Let’s do it for Greg whilst raising much-needed funds.”

Earlier, the group’s manager Paul Field said Page underwent surgery and was expected to be in hospital for at least a few days.

“He was in such a serious way last night,” he told Channel 7.

“He needed CPR, we had two of our cast and crew working on him. They used a defibrillator on him three times. He was in a bad way.”

We’ve visited Greg this morning & he wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes. He’s so grateful for the messages of love & support from⁣ around the world. Greg’s main concern was that the show tonight should go on.⁣ Let’s do it for Greg whilst raising much needed funds pic.twitter.com/8CBT7P8roA

— The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) January 18, 2020

A defibrillator was used three times after Page lost consciousness.

Mr Field said Page “stopped breathing a number of times” and had to be resuscitated by two members of the crew.

“Steve the drummer and Kim who works in our office did CPR, they saved his life,” he said.

“I’ve got to tell you, if there’s a lesson from that – it’s great to have people learn CPR, it saved his life.”

Distressing video from the concert shows Page, who suffers from a circulatory system disorder, collapsing onto the stage floor just moments before the show was due to end.

The jubilant crowd, unaware Page’s life was in imminent danger, continued to cheer the band on, demanding they return to perform “Hot Potato” one last time.

A visibly upset Murray Cook, the red Wiggle, told the crowd the concert would need “to end,” as crew members hastily drew a curtain around Page and rushed to perform CPR.

“Greg’s not feeling real well,” said Cook. “I think he’s going to be OK but he’s not feeling real well so I don’t think we can go on with another song.”

According to Field, Page was “groggy” when he woke up hours later in hospital and “couldn’t remember much” about what had happened.

“He said to me, ‘did I finish the show?’ and I said, ‘yes, mate, you finished the show – bit of a melodramatic exit, but you did finish the show’.”

All proceeds from the show are going to the Australian Red Cross and WIRES, following a string of catastrophic bushfires across the east coast, in South Australia, and WA.

Fans from around the globe were quick to flood the band’s social media pages with their well wishes for the 48-year-old performer.

“We love you Greg,” wrote Amy Thunig on Twitter. “Take care of yourself, 2020 needs your energy and light.”

WE LOVE YOU GREG 🙏🏽 Take care of yourself, 2020 needs your energy and light x

— Amy Thunig (@AmyThunig) January 18, 2020

Another fan, Jen Hansen, wrote: “we took our young autistic son to see The Wiggles in the Illinois Quad Cities long ago,” Ms Hansen wrote on Twitter.

“He rarely smiles or shows emotion. During the show, he smiled, laughed, sang and danced. The Wiggles gave me a gift I wasn’t sure I’d ever get, and for that, I’ll always be grateful. Be well.”

We took our young autistic son to see The Wiggles in the Illinois Quad Cities long ago. He rarely smiled or showed emotion. During the show, he smiled, laughed, sang & danced. @TheWiggles gave me a gift I wasn’t sure I’d ever get, and for that, I’ll always be grateful. Be well.❤️ pic.twitter.com/6VYRkTHnwG

— Jen Hansen 🏳️‍🌈 (@jenhansen31) January 18, 2020

Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Jeff Fatt will return to perform a second fundraiser at Castle Hill RSL on Saturday night.

Friday’s concert was the first time the band’s founding members had played together since 2012, after Page left the group due to poor health.

In 2006, he revealed he was suffering from orthostatic intolerance, which caused problems with the function of his heart when standing.

Wiggles' Greg Page during the concert for bushfire relief before his collapse. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone.

Yellow Wiggle collapses on stage

Greg Page, better known as the original yellow Wiggle, suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on stage last night while performing at a bushfire relief concert in Sydney.

Mr Page was rushed to Westmead Hospital, where The Wiggles said he underwent a procedure and was now recovering.

“Our friend Greg Page suffered a cardiac arrest at the end of the bushfire relief performance and was taken to hospital,” a post on The Wiggles’ official Twitter page said.

“He has had a procedure and is now recovering in hospital.”

As has been reported, our friend Greg Page suffered a cardiac arrest at the end of the bushfire relief performance and was taken to hospital. He has had a procedure and is now recovering in hospital. We appreciate your kind messages and concern.

— The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) January 17, 2020

Update: At the end of the show this evening there was a medical incident off stage involving Greg Page. Medics were called immediately and he was taken to hospital where he is receiving treatment. We will provide more information as it comes to hand.

— The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) January 17, 2020

The original line-up of the much-loved children’s band was performing one of two planned reunion benefit concerts at the Castle Hill RSL, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross and The Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation (WIRES).

Footage from the live stream that was posted on twitter shows Page appearing to collapse while walking off the stage.

i feel so bad for greg :( #wiggles pic.twitter.com/HUlN98CqFj

— 𝕜𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕖 (@goingslighlymad) January 17, 2020

A spokesman for the Castle Hill RSL told The Australian that they could make no comment on the incident, but confirmed that the second reunion concert on Saturday night would go ahead as planned.

Mr Page left the iconic group in 2006 after being diagnosed with dysautonomia — a disease which causes nervous system malfunctions relating to blood flow. People with the disease can faint if they stand or sit for extended periods.