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Couple instal 19th defibrillator after cardiac arrest changed their lives
29/06/2022
Stuart and Charlotte Pickwick have trained 1,500 people in CPR since Charlotte was taken ill five years ago
A new life-saving defibrillator has been installed at the Woodgreen Leisure Centre in Banbury – the 19th unit to be installed by husband and wife team Stuart and Charlotte Pickwick from Brackley. CPR training and fund raising for defibrillators in the area has become a way of life for the couple after a life changing event five years ago.
At 2.20am on Boxing Day 2017 Stuart was woken by Charlotte gasping for breath – known as an “agonal gasp”. He turned on the light to see her swinging her legs out of the bed and falling towards the radiator.
Stuart pulled Charlotte back and tried to wake her. She was now just making occasional groans and had pin-prick eyes. He called 999 and was advised to place Charlotte on the floor and begin CPR.
It was eight minutes until the ambulance arrived and throughout that time Stuart was administering hands-only CPR. When they arrived the medics used a defibrillator to shock Charlotte’s heart back into action.
She suffered a further cardiac arrest on the way to the Horton General Hospital and another in intensive care the following day.
As is usually the case, Charlotte had shown no symptoms of having any heart problems. She has been an NHS Nurse for 22 years and was otherwise fit and well and a non-smoker. Her cardiac arrest happened during the week of her 41st birthday.
Stuart, who is a generator engineer, learned his CPR skills at first aid training sessions he has attended over the years.
Charlotte was in hospital for twelve days and returned to work ten weeks later but acknowledges that, despite her insistence on getting back to work it took her around six months to get her strength back.
The following May, Charlotte and Stuart held a party for family and friends to raise money for a defibrillator at their local pub. A number of guests questioned how Stuart had known what to do when Charlotte was taken ill and this led to the couple setting up a training course for family and friends.
Other people heard about the training and the couple were inundated with requests for more sessions, so they created a proper training plan, which was approved by the British Heart Foundation and delivered at Brackley Rugby Club.
Stuart said: “Bad CPR is better than no CPR. Some people think that if they do something wrong they will hurt the person who has been taken ill and could be sued. But they need to remember, the person is clinically dead. No person has ever been successfully sued for breaking a rib, or something like that.”
Charlotte added: “You can’t go wrong because doing something is better than doing nothing.”
Now as a registered charity Stuart and Charlotte trained 1,500 ahead of the pandemic with courses due to restart around October this year. From the first defibrillator at the local pub the couple have now overseen the installation of the life-saving kit around Brackley with units available every 700 metres.
The project has expanded to Banbury with defibrillators already sited at Longford Park Community Centre, Hardwick Community Centre and the Chatsworth pub. The latest unit was placed at Woodgreen Leisure Centre at the weekend and kit will soon be installed at the Easington and Bell pubs.
Despite the obvious panic that sets in when a person suffers a cardiac arrest those attending Stuart and Charlotte’s courses learn the essential things to help save a person’s life.
Charlotte said: “The most important thing to do is to call 999. The call handler will assess the situation and if they think its needed will tell you where the nearest defibrillator is. They will give you a code to access the unit.
“The defibrillator won’t let you shock someone unless they are in the right state for the treatment. It has pictures showing you what to do and talks to you throughout.
“It is literally idiot proof. Anyone can use a defibrillator.”
60,000 suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital each year – 80% of these in the home. Only 8% survive. Critically 70% of by-standers don’t intervene when a person is taken ill.
Charlotte said: “Time is not your friend when someone has had a cardiac arrest. You need to get the blood flowing immediately to preserve life.
“Quite a number of people have come on our courses and have gone on to do CPR on people.
“The teaching of CPR is slowly coming in to schools, but in Finland the survival rate is around 70% because they are all taught in school, you’re not allowed to get a job without knowing CPR and there is much more access to defibrillators. In this country we’re still very much frightened to do something.”
Stuart and Charlotte acknowledge the effect the events of five years ago have had on them, their family and friends – a situation that anyone could face.
Charlotte said: “The biggest thing is our children witnessed all of this. It has been an extremely traumatic journey and this has been our therapy. If we can help just one person and save a life – not everyone gets a second chance at life.
“I was clinically dead for 8 minutes but now I’m back at work and fit and well. I am very lucky.
“As we saw with Christian Eriksson it can happen to anybody and with a cardiac arrest there is no warning. Did I ever think it would happen to me? Never – not in a million years.
Find out more about Stuart and Charlotte’s charity here.
Listen again to our interview with Stuart and Charlotte here:
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam