Praise for North Chailey man who saved heart attack victim: ‘He was the right person in the right place at the right time’

It was early morning on Friday, November 24, last year when Mark, 34, pulled off the road and then spotted a man lying on the forecourt clutching his chest.

Other motorists were coming and going and were apparently oblivious of what was happening.

Mark went to the man who almost immediately had a full heart attack and stopped breathing. Mark immediately called the emergency services and then began administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) under instruction from the emergency call operator.

He kept up the CPR until the emergency services arrived and the man was airlifted to hospital where he underwent a triple heart bypass but went on to survive.

Now Mark has been awarded a top national life-saving honour, a Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificate. He has also been personally thanked by the man for saving his life and has won the personal praise of Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society for what he did.

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“There is no doubt that he was the right person in the right place at the right time,” said Mr Chapman. “Other people either didn’t see the man or ignored him but thankfully Mark spotted him and immediately began the battle to save him.

“It must have been a harrowing situation but if Mark had not acted as he did when he did then the man would almost certainly not have survived. For CPR to work it is essential that it is started as soon as possible after the person has suffered a heart attack and there was no delay at all in this case. Mark richly deserves the award he is to receive.

“This is another of many incidents we see which emphasise the value of as many people as possible, not just members of the emergency services learning how to administer CPR. It can, as it did here, make the difference between life and death.”

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life. It was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation. However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved. The Society also awards non health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the Society has considered over 90,000 cases and made over 220,000 awards. The Society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.