Damp blades of grass still cling to the soles of teen footballer Kye Wilson’s red boots as medics fight frantically to save his life after he collapsed during a match.
After the 18-year-old sports student suffered a cardiac arrest during the match, his quick-thinking teammates, staff and coaches began CPR while someone ran to fetch a defibrillator.
At least four shocks were delivered before paramedics arrived and he was rushed to A&E at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Kye survived, but almost certainly only because the sports ground had a defibrillator on site.
Now 19, he said: “Without it there is a big chance I just wouldn’t be here.
“I’m just very grateful that it was there and for the people who helped me.”
Kye and his mum, Lorenda Simpson, 38, are now backing the Mirror’s campaign for a law requiring defibrillators to be made available at locations such as sports grounds and public buildings.
A Private Members’ bill led by DUP MP Jim Shannon is due for its second reading in the Commons in March.
Lorenda said: “They said if they didn’t have the defib Kye might not have survived.
“It’s shocking how many places do not have one. I was thinking of all the places I have travelled with Kye playing football, up and down the country, where I have never seen a defib.
“These young boys play in really remote locations, in recreation grounds, big fields out in the middle of nowhere.”
Kye, who features tonight in 24 Hours in A&E on Channel 4, joined Notts County FC as a 10-year-old but was let
go at the age of 16.
He was playing for a local Nottingham side at Harvey Hadden Sports Village in Bilborough, Notts, in October 2021 when he collapsed.
Just one in 10 people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside hospital survive and public defibrillators, which deliver a shock to restart the heart, are used in less than a tenth of cases.
Using a defibrillator within five minutes raises the chance of survival by more than 40%.
Lorenda, a healthcare assistant, has been told at least four shocks were delivered to Kye before paramedics arrived.
It was three days before he regained consciousness.
Consultant Dr Bob Winter, now retired, was working in the resuscitation room and said an early call for help, an early commencement of chest compressions or CPR and early defibrillation were key to saving Kye.
He said: “If there was nobody there doing CPR and putting a defib on him, his chances of survival would have been significantly reduced.
“Kye is very lucky there was one on site, that should be the gold standard. Everywhere there is a sporting event should have one. But you should have them in shopping centres, all over town.”
Kye’s condition is still being investigated. He can no longer play football and is still recovering physically. But he knows he is lucky to alive.
He said: “I’m very grateful. I had never heard of anyone needing a defibrillator. Now I appreciate the difference it made.”
- 24 Hours In A&E is on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm.
