Scaffolder reunited with heroes who saved his life in Burgess Hill: Persimmon Homes thanks team for ‘bravery and professionalism’

Persimmon Homes said Justin Geary, 53, arrived on site at The Croft to start work on Monday, June 17, but collapsed when he went to tie his boot lace.

Justin said: "I don’t remember after bending down to tie my shoelace then I woke up very confused.”

Persimmon Homes explained that one of Justin’s sons, who was working with him as a contract scaffolder on the Charles Church development, raised the alarm at the site office

They said the site manager Josh Salo, assistant site managers Luke Gibbins and Josh Bailey and storeman Peter Coleman then ‘leapt into action’. The team initially put Justin into the recovery position because he was still breathing and called an ambulance. But after Justin went into cardiac arrest they used their first aid training. The house builder said Josh and Luke performed CPR, while Peter got the site defibrillator and other team members waited by the road to signal the ambulance.

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Persimmon Homes said Justin came to before the ambulance arrived and was taken to hospital where he later had life-saving heart surgery.

Justin works with sons Deron, Floyd and Diesel, and has worked on Persimmon Homes sites for 30 years. Visit www.persimmonhomes.com.

At the reunion, Justin told his colleagues: “I owe my life to the four of you.”

He said: “I am so lucky it happened where it did because there was a defibrillator close by and the team were all trained in how to use it.”

Josh said: “Everyone on site pulled together that day, and rallied around so we could do our best for Justin.”

Dan Castle, managing director of Persimmon Homes Thames Valley, thanked the team for their bravery and professionalism. He said: “The site management team worked together to ensure the best possible outcome and we are delighted that Justin is here to share his story. First aid training is mandatory for our site management teams and at Persimmon Homes we ensure there is a defibrillator available on every site because together they really do save lives, as we have seen here.”