A Nottinghamshire company boss was saved by his staff after suffering a cardiac arrest during a work football game. Gilbert Murphy played in a seven-a-side football match between his Beeston-based company HPS Product Recovery Solutions and another local company at Powerleague Nottingham, Thane Road on March 13.
After exiting the pitch, seemingly suffering from an innocuous knee injury, the 57-year-old greeted his employee Kelly Whetton, who had come to watch the match. But a few seconds later Kelly noticed Gilbert had suddenly collapsed to the floor, with her raising the alarm with those who had been playing.
His employees rushed over to help their unresponsive boss, applying CPR as a defibrillator was fetched to try and save his life. "I remember arriving in the car park at Powerleague Nottingham before the game and that's it. I can't remember playing, what happened or anything after that. My daughter Rhianne has had to patch together the story for me," Gilbert explained.
Poll: Should the UK deal with snow better? Have your say here
"The lucky part for me was that one of my employees, Kelly, had decided to turn up to watch us. When I went off the football pitch, it was only Kelly and I there, and shortly after I collapsed. If she hadn't turned up no-one would have seen me.
"The defibrillator being on the site and the training my team had was not luck - fortunately all the right things were in place and that's how it should be for everyone. Take any one of these things out of the chain, including the ambulance turning up quickly, and I would be dead - no doubt about it.
"I can't thank the people who helped me enough. Stevie Ker, my co-director, said the 'stars were aligned for you that night' and that's the way I feel - take anything away and I'm not here."
Gilbert was taken to QMC's A&E Department and put into an induced coma, before being transferred to NUH City Hospital Critical Care Unit a few hours later. His family were told there was a chance he would not wake up, but he was brought out of his induced coma on the morning of Tuesday, March 14.
On Monday, March 20 Gilbert agreed to take part in a clinical trial for a new type of arterial expansion balloon coated with a drug to treat his heart. This operation was successful, dealing with the tear in an artery which had caused the cardiac arrest.
Gilbert explained the only remaining issue was his broken ribs, meaning he would soon be able to play sports again after the "amazing" medical procedure. "They [doctors] said the limitation I have right now is my fractured ribs from the CPR, so I need to wait for that to heal," he said.
"I watched the operation on a massive screen and could feel the probe inside my heart, they went in through my wrist and they traced the wire all the way through my veins and arteries to my heart. It was amazing."
Andrei Cox, 51, a client support manager for HPS Product Recovery Solutions who was playing in goal at the time, raced to help save his boss' life as the dramatic scene unfolded. "I saw Gilbert bending over like he was tired on the pitch, then I saw him walk off," he said.
"The next thing I knew Kelly was shouting that he had collapsed. Initially it was quite confusing as we tried to figure out what to do and how bad it was, but we were straight on the phone to 999, who told us to start CPR and get the defibrillator.
"Steven Ker was really good at starting CPR, then Kirsty from Powerleague did it, and I took over from her. The only first aid I've ever done is at work, and that's what allowed me to help him. I would have been clueless if not, he's my boss and my friend and to not be able to help would have been awful.
On Gilbert's quick recovery and his still-injured ribs, Andrei added: "He blames me for that. It is incredible how quickly he's recovered, when we went to the hospital we were told it would be touch and go for a couple of days. It did go through my mind, 'what if something I did made it worse', so it was such a relief to see that didn't happen."
Gilbert is now calling for more to be done to make sure people suffering cardiac arrests can get the same swift support he received. "I want to raise awareness of two points, one is about the great quality of care from the NHS, and then the fact that I was in the small percentage of people who survive a cardiac arrest.
"There has to be something real done to try and reverse this survival percentage, like making it so businesses have to do CPR training and have an internal defibrillator. Taking it further, CPR should be trained in schools so that everyone can do it."
Are you planning an event for King Charles III’s Coronation? Let us know here
READ NEXT:
Inspector warns students to secure accommodation after rise in burglaries
Neighbours shocked after man found stabbed in 'nice little town'
How empty Nottingham high street has transformed into a 'cool and fresh' destination
11-minute exercise that cuts risks of stroke, cancer and heart disease, say scientists
