A chance meeting at a SCAS Recruitment event at the beginning of 2023 set the wheels in motion for Oxfordshire-resident, David Furze, to visit Didcot Resource Centre earlier this month to say a heartfelt thank you to some of the SCAS and Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA) team who helped saved his life in March 2019.
Four years ago, David suffered a cardiac arrest whilst at work at the TNT Depot in Milton Park. A 999 call was made into our Bicester control room from where a number of SCAS resources, along with the TVAA critical care response vehicle, were sent to David’s aid. After administering three shocks to David, the team were able to achieve ROSC (return of spontaneous circulation) and he was then taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford still in a critical condition.
David went on to make a full recovery, but had never had the closure he needed after this life-changing event and, speaking to the SCAS Recruitment Team at the roadshow earlier this year, said he would really welcome the chance to get back on an ambulance and meet some of his lifesavers.
On Monday, 12 June, David was finally able to meet up with Paramedic Team Leader, Josh Wood, Paramedic, Amy Hodge, who was first on scene at the emergency back in 2019, and Emergency Despatcher, Donna Manning. The three of them were also delighted to meet up with David again in much happier circumstances and represented the entire SCAS and TVAA team who responded.
“What a fantastic afternoon it was”, said David. “Thank you for organising it and I hugely appreciated being able to spend time with some of the paramedics and control room team. They all did a fantastic job at the time and in hosting me for my visit, and it was a truly memorable afternoon that will live with me for a long time – especially as Josh had arranged for the original ambulance that took me to hospital to be there too! Massive appreciation and thank you all!”
As well as Amy, Donna and Josh, the rest of David’s lifesaving response team were: Wende Blowfield, Charlotte Ballard, Gurpreet Singh (who have all since left the Trust) and HEMS Paramedic, Katy Schofield.