Freckleton heart attack victim thanks his lifesaver

Robert Marsden, 43, from Freckleton, collapsed at his home on June 6 after one of his arteries became blocked.

But he was resuscitated thanks to the quick actions of his wife Rachel and neighbour Geoff Hamriding.

Rachel, 50. said Robert felt unwell after walking their dog Olly.

The nursery nurse said: “He was sweating and complaining about his shoulder, but he had no chest pain whatsoever.

“And then suddenly he just hit the deck and he was dead.

“I ran straight for Geoff across the road. He knew he was in cardiac arrest and started CPR straightaway.”

Rachel also said she knew he needed a defibrillator - fortunately there was one at the end of the street.

She added: “I got the code off the ambulance service to release it and while Geoff continued with CPR, I used the defib four times.”

Business owner Robert can’t recall any of the incident but said: “Obviously, I don’t remember anything happening but without the help of Rachel and Geoff I would’t be here.”

Geoff, who is based in Blackpool, said when he got to the Marsden’s house he knew he had no time to waste.

“I carried out CPR for more than 20 minutes and we shocked him four times with the AED (automated external defibrillator).”

Mark Lewis, North West Ambulance Services’ operations manager for Fylde stations said: “Having these AED’s out in the community, so we can get the shock in as early as possible is brilliant and they have been shown to save lives.

“The more of them we can get out there the better and it comes down to people fundraising for them to be put out.”