Anglesea dad brought back from the dead after cardiac arrest

An Anglesea dad has shared how his life was saved after he dropped dead from a cardiac arrest in a pool.

Chris Liontos with son Luca, 10, and first on the scene Paul Bragg, a paramedic who lives nearby and was off-duty at the time of the arrest. Picture: Alison Wynd

An Anglesea dad was brought back from the dead after suffering a cardiac arrest while with his family in the pool.

Chris Liontos was swimming at home with his wife Connie and 10-year-old son Luca in March when he “just dropped”.

Ms Liontos told Luca to call triple-0.

Within minutes off-duty MICA paramedic Paul Bragg, who lived nearby and was alerted to the situation by the GoodSAM app, was the first on scene.

The app connects Victorians in cardiac arrest with members of the community who are willing to start CPR in the critical minutes before on-duty paramedics arrive.

A number of GoodSAMs and paramedics, who used a defibrillator, worked on Mr Liontos for more than 30 minutes before return of spontaneous circulation was achieved.

“I was gone,” Mr Liontos said.

The 52-year-old has no memory of the events of that Saturday, and woke up in hospital on the Tuesday.

He described learning what had happened as surreal.

“I did come back different,” he said.

“Every day is a bonus, things don’t worry me any more.”

After the cardiac arrest a stent was inserted to clear a blockage.

Anglesea dad Chris Liontos, with wife Connie shows his scar after open heart surgery. Picture: Alison Wynd

Mr Liontos said the quality of care he received from staff at Geelong hospital also amazed him.

About two months after the cardiac arrest he had open heart surgery for further blockages.

Mr Liontos, a pharmaceutical rep, said while he had always been healthy and relatively active, he has now radically changed his diet and does not eat sugar or fried food.

He also takes daily medication.

Mr Liontos, who reunited with GoodSAMS and paramedics on Wednesday, did not even know the app existed prior to the experience.

Now he and his wife are gong to undertake CPR training and sign up.

“It’s such a good thing,” he said.

He urged others to do the same, and stay up to date with their health checks.

“I thought I was invincible,” he said.

Paramedic and Anglesea team manager Matthew Van der Ploeg, who was off-duty and attended Mr Liontos’ cardiac arrest following a GoodSAM notification, said it was “really special” to see him make a full recovery.

Every day, about 20 Victorians will suffer a cardiac arrest and only one in 10 survive.

CPR and defibrillation are critical for surviving a cardiac arrest – for every minute that CPR is delayed, survival decreases by 10 per cent.

Restart A Heart Day on October 16 is part of the Shocktober campaign and aims to raise awareness about learning CPR and how to use a defibrillator.

For more information, and to find out about the GoodSAM app, visit www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/shocktober.

Originally published as Anglesea dad brought back from the dead after cardiac arrest