A man who was pronounced clinically dead for seven minutes after suffering a cardiac arrest outside a tube station has said a defibrillator “saved his life” as the London Ambulance Service was given access to a vital database of the devices.
Ripon Danis, 41, went into cardiac arrest outside Highbury and Islington station in November 2018 after attending a Muay Thai class.
He was saved after a bystander performed CPR while another brought over the station’s defibrillator. Their intervention bought vital time for Ripon’s heart as emergency services rushed to the scene.
Mr Danis said his daughter Isabella, now 3, “would never been born” if the two bystanders had not rushed to help him.
“I was in the right place at the right time. I have no idea who the unsung heroes are who saved my life with CPR and a defibrillator. But because of them and the superb care I received from paramedics I am still here.”
He added: “Sometimes in my quieter moments, I think I was saved so Isabella could be born. Not only might I not be here without a defibrillator, but she might not be either.”
It comes as the London Ambulance Service (LAS) was formally added to The Circuit – a national database of defibrillators that allows paramedics and members of the public to find the devices more quickly.
The Circuit will allow 999 call handlers in the capital to direct bystanders to the nearest registered defibrillator while they wait for emergency services to arrive.Immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said she was “thrilled” that every ambulance service in the UK had access to The Circuit but called on Londoners to ensure their local defibrillator is registered on the network.
