David shocked 16 times as medics fight for his life
Houghton Le Spring dad David Binks staged a miracle recovery after his heart stopped beating for more than 70 minutes.
NEAS paramedics Vicky Adamson, Gail Savage and Karen Millican were quickly on the scene, but intially, David’s prospects didn’t look good.
David’s partner Lynette had begun CPR as soon as she saw David collapse. The three NEAS paramedics, and then hospital staff, continued the resuscitation and shocked him 16 times before his heartbeat returned.
Now, as David, a former groundsman, recovers at home, his family have told of the rescue, on March 10. Mum-of-one Lynette, 22, a former care worker, said: “David was asleep next to me but I woke up and he was gasping for breath and wasn’t responding. I just started shaking him. I knew he had stopped breathing and his heart wasn’t beating and I just called for an ambulance.
“I started doing CPR and chest compressions until the ambulance got there. It was only for about three minutes but it felt like a lifetime. Our little girl was shouting for her daddy.”
Following the attack, David spent five days on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital before spending 11 days on a ward and two days at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital. His family, including his daughters Georgia, seven, and Ella, one, were told to brace themselves for the worst as it was extremely likely David would be brain damaged. But he amazed medics with his recovery.
Lynette said: “They said that if David was to wake up he would suffer brain damage but they didn’t know what the extent would be because he was out for so long.”
Paramedic Karen Millican said: “It’s fair to say the three of us are amazed at the outcome, and we are thrilled to have been able to make a difference for David. We wish him and his family all the very best for the future.”
Paramedic Vicky Adamson said: “Due to the length of time that the patient was without an output I believed there was very little chance of him making any sort of recovery. We all work really hard at every cardiac arrest, and we want to save every life.
“Sometimes the outcome is good, but sometime despite all our best efforts, the outcome is bad. In this instance I don’t think any of us expected to be told that 3 days later David would be out of his hospital bed! Shocked is an understatement!
“It is jobs like that, with results like that which make our jobs so rewarding.”