Glenn Richardson, thought to be a fit and healthy man, suffered a cardiac arrest while working out in his local gym.
Glenn is an enthusiastic gym-goer from Stafford. After work one day in summer this year, Glenn called into his local gym on the way home for his usual workout.
Working out on the treadmill, Glenn racked up speed and incline, when he began to feel dizzy. After levelling off and walking away from the machine, Glenn began to feel worse, and leant forward grabbing a bar in front of him to steady himself.. He soon collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Thankfully, a nearby personal trainer spotted the abnormal colour of Glenn’s face and rapidly called for help.
Another gym goer swiftly began to perform CPR, while the general manager of The Club Company gym in Lichfield located their automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock Glenn back into a regular cardiac rhythm.
While those around himperformed vital bystander support to ensure Glenn’s recovery, both the charity’s Tatenhill and Cosfordbased air ambulance crews were rapidly dispatched to the scene.
Swiftly taking over fromthe bystanders, the charity’s crew of highly skilled critical care paramedics and doctors began to provide advanced critical care to Glenn and achieved a ROSC – a return of spontaneous circulation, where Glenn’s heart started beating for itself again. The pre-hospital emergencymedicine doctor. with support fromthe critical care paramedics, brought enhanced drugs for sedation to the scene to help regulate Glenn’s condition.
When speaking about our pre-hospital emergency service, Glenn said: “I’ve always admired and supported Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, but now I owe them my life, I’m indebted to the service that gave me another chance.”
Once stabilised, Glenn was transported by land ambulance to Royal Stoke Hospital where he woke up in A&E. After undergoing an MRI, Glenn was diagnosed with early-stage cardiomyopathy. He was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and returned home after eight days in hospital.
Glenn has supported the charity for several years and regularly attends our fundraising events. He even provides a photo booth for our Recognition Awards and Charity Ball.
“Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is a phenomenal and life changing service,” explained Glenn. “It still seems to be understated to the fact that it’s actually a charity. People may see them flying in the sky and not necessarily realise that they’re there through public support.Me and my family are eternally grateful to everyone involved in saving my life.”
Glenn’s ongoing recovery is going really well, where he has just had sign off to return to the gym independently with his cardio rehab programme
