Grandfather says thank you for saving his life

It could be any family picture by the Christmas Tree, however, Keith Porter isn t just with his own relatives but the team who saved his life.

If it hadn t been for the skilled staff on duty at Yate s Minor Injury Unit run by Sirona care & health, when the 54-year-old s heart suddenly stopped, he says he wouldn t be celebrating Christmas this year.  Keith, a self-employed gardener, explains: “I was finishing work for a customer and I started getting a pain in my shoulder; I thought I d trapped a nerve. It was a small pain.  I started driving to my next customer but the pain was getting worse. I stopped and got out of the car and was pressing my shoulder against a telegraph pole to try and help reduce the pain.  

“Eventually I thought this was too much and I drove home, took some painkillers and waited for them to kick in.   The pain was excruciating, the painkillers hadn t worked so I walked to the Minor Injuries Unit.  I booked in with a trapped nerve in the shoulder. I remember waiting about 10 minutes and the next thing I know I was on the floor with the staff around me saying they d had to use a defibrillator on me.

  “If I d stayed at home for another 10 minutes, I wouldn t be here now. ”

Keith, a father of two – Janie and Tara – and grandfather of three – Alice, 2, Theia and Maisie, seven months –  had a massive heart attack while being examined by staff and his heart stopped.

“The ambulance was called and I was taken to the Bristol Heart Institute at the BRI where I had a stent fitted in about half an hour. They were a fantastic team. ”

The team at Yate Minor Injuries Unit quickly realised it wasn t a shoulder injury and it was a cardiac problem with an ECG picking up severe changes to the heart.  While Mr Porter was talking to them in the assessment room, he arrested and the nurses began chest compressions and used the defibrillator to re-start his heart.

Pauline Chinnick, Yate s MIU matron, said: “He was in the right place at the right time as the team were able to resuscitate him although anyone having heart problems should go to A&E. Mr Porter s shoulder pain was actually him having a heart attack. He was very lucky. ”

Sirona is a not-for-profit social enterprise which provides adult community health care services in South Gloucestershire.

Sirona is currently recruiting district Nurses, Social Workers, Therapists, Support Workers and Health Visitors.  Call Helen on 01225 831 773 for more information or email [email protected].

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