A woman who performed life-saving CPR on her husband after he suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep says she’s “haunted” by the ordeal.
Leanne Griffiths, 33, kept husband Sam’s heart going for 15 minutes while waiting for paramedics to reach their home.
The mother-of-two used training she’d received while working as a receptionist in a medical centre to save him, performing heroically under immense pressure.
Now, four months on, she feels ready to speak out about that fateful night where she nearly lost her husband.
Leanne, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said: “When you wake up in the middle of the night and your husband isn’t breathing, you feel immense panic.
“I called 999 and they immediately instructed me to begin compressions, which if it wasn’t for my training at work, I wouldn’t have had a clue how to do.
“Before this, I didn’t realise how important CPR really was, and I now think everyone should have basic training early on in their lives.”
Leanne and her husband Sam, 33, were asleep on August 30 when their youngest son Brody, eight, came and climbed into their bed.
He often comes in during the early morning, and at around 5:30am Leanne woke up to him aggressively shaking her.
Brody was shouting ‘what’s wrong with daddy?’, and when she looked over to Sam, he was pale, with his fists clenched and fitting uncontrollably.
Leanne rolled him on his side and called 999, with an operator immediately instructing her to move him onto the floor.
Once positioned there, she was then told to perform CPR while paramedics completed the 15-minute journey from Northern General Hospital.
Leanne then began scooping vomit out his mouth to clear his airways, and completing 100 to 120 compressions to keep Sam alive.
Minutes felt like hours as she battled to save him, and when the ambulance arrived, Leanne says Brody was there to open the front door.
Leanne said: “If Brody hadn’t come in that morning, Sam wouldn’t be with us today.
“He woke me up in a sheer panic, and when I saw Sam lying their shaking, I felt exactly the same.
“But I managed to keep my head, and called 999 who sent an ambulance from Northern General Hospital.
“They said it would take 15 minutes to arrive, and in the meantime, I was told to perform CPR to keep Sam’s heart pumping.
“He was violently vomiting and had no pulse, and I had to keep his airways clear as I completed the standard 100 compressions per minute.
“Luckily, I had training from work, but if I hadn’t, I genuinely don’t know what I would have done.
“Sam was unresponsive right up until the ambulance came, in which time, I was convinced we’d lost him.”
She continued: “Brody watched the whole thing unfold in front of his eyes, but when the paramedics arrived, he kept calm enough to sprint down and open the front door.
“That allowed me to keep going with the compressions which ultimately saved his life.”
The paramedics took over from Leanne, and used a defibrillator to restart Sam’s heart.
It took two charges to revive him, at which point Leanne and Brody burst into tears of relief.
Sam was immediately transported to Northern General where he was diagnosed with Wolff Parkinson Syndrome, a condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast.
He then underwent seven hours of heart surgery to treat his rhythm problem and was released from hospital a week later.
Since the horrifying ordeal, Sam has had regular check-up appointments, and thankfully has responded well to the life-saving operation.
The father-of-two returned to work this week, and says he’s in no doubt that he owes his life to the heroics of his wife and youngest son.
Sam, who works as a general operative at a steelworks, said: “I don’t remember much, just Leanne shouting and the paramedics surrounding me.
“When I came around, I had a tube down my throat to clear any blockages, which I immediately spat out.
“The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital surrounded by my loved ones, and then being rushed into surgery to have a cardiac ablation.
“Thankfully I pulled through, and I owe my life to the brave actions of my wife and son.
“I struggle to sleep now because I get flashbacks about what happened and at the minute, I can’t do the things I used to.
“But the main point is, I’m still here, and I’m currently just taking every day as it comes.
“I couldn’t be more grateful.”
This article was amended on December 10 2022. It previously referred to 30 compressions per minute, but the recommended number of chest compressions in CPR is 100-120 per minute.
