Beeline: Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance Magazine, Spring 2016

“I wondered what was
happening to me”
why we do it
One Sunday afternoon in late
October, Mark and his wife
Becky decided to take their
children Beth (14) and Joseph
(12) on a walk to Burrington
Combe on the Mendip Hills.
However, the trip didn’t quite
end as the family expected.
Mark tells us more….
e’d only been walking for about 15 minutes,
“W
when I suddenly felt this intense nausea and
dizziness. This was followed by a deep pain in
my throat and between my shoulder blades. I fell to the
floor on my hands and knees and, according to Becky, I
went ashen in colour, very cold and really sweaty.
“I tried rocking about to stop the pain, but it wouldn’t
lessen and I wondered what was happening to me. I
remember thinking that my left arm didn’t hurt (the
classic symptom of a heart attack on TV dramas), my
throat felt like something was being forced down it and
my back felt like it had been crushed by something.
“Not one of us had a mobile phone with us, which
was a bad move and there were no other people around.
The children ran off in different directions to try and
find someone with a phone. It was quite a while before
they found someone and eventually returned; by that
point I was rolling about on the ground in waves of
unbearable nausea and severe pain.
“After some time, I heard the sound of a
helicopter overhead and before I knew it, a
Mark and his
family were taking
a walk near the
‘Rock of Ages’
when he fell ill
paramedic was asking me how bad the pain was on a
scale of 1 to 10. I remember thinking that this was an
impossible question to answer in the circumstances and
said ‘7’ because I didn’t want to exaggerate (how British
is that?).
“I answered a few more questions about the location
of the pain and then one of the paramedics said, “We
are going the cardiac route”, or something very
similar. This confirmed both Becky’s and my
thoughts that I had suffered, or was suffering,
a heart attack. After popping an aspirin under
my tongue, I was put on a stretcher and placed
inside the air ambulance.
“I was cared for by the paramedics and flown
to Weston Hospital. There I was given oxygen
and underwent tests on my heart. After I showed
no signs of improvement and experienced a
sudden drop in my blood pressure, the consultants
decided I needed transferring to Bristol Royal Infirmary
for more specialist treatment and so I was whisked away.
“On arrival at Bristol, I was given more drugs and
eventually the pain began to ease. I underwent an
angioplasty procedure and one stent was inserted.
Amazingly, I watched everything that was happening to
me via a monitor. As soon as the stent was fitted, I felt
much better, which was such a relief. I stayed in hospital
for a few days before being taken back to Weston, where I
stayed for another week and then attended cardiac rehab
in Wells. Everyone has been excellent in building me
back up both physically and mentally and I can’t thank
them enough.”
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance @dsairambulance 21