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On 31 August 2024 I got a second chance at life. At 3am in the morning I had a cardiac arrest, and my heart and breathing stopped for +/-9 minutes. I was so lucky to be at home – my son Jake gave me CPR and my wife Jeanette helped him. (I have only found out from Jeanette in the last few days that this was nearer to 20 minutes)" They did an amazing job. The medics arrived after 7 minutes, and they zapped my heart back into life.

I also was so lucky to end up in Harefield Heart Hospital where I was taken amazing care of. I had a stent inserted into my heart and an ICD inserted into my chest which is a pacemaker and a defibrillator – so if my heart stops again, it will be zapped back into life. It also feeds live data 24/7 back to Harefield Hospital – Incredible technology.

I am incredibly thankful to everyone who helped me recover particularly everyone at Harefield Hospital, my family and friends. The love and support I have received from everybody has been so overwhelming and has really touched my heart! Jeanette Josh and Jake have been amazing in their support and love of me. I try to make sure that every time I see them I give them a big hug and I tell them that I love them and I am so proud of them.

The cover photo, which has been updated, was taken on 8 November celebrating my 60th birthday in Derbyshire with Jeanette, Josh and Jake. We were there for a week and had a very magical time. We were near to Dovedale and went on some amazing walks along the River Dove. The scenery was stunning and the only noise was of birds, sheep, cows and running water form the River Dove. Nature is so good for the soul! I am so grateful to have been able to spend this special time with my family and just kept remembering how lucky I was to have survived my cardia arrest.

In my picture gallery there is a photo taken about 20 days later when we were out celebrating Josh's 30th birthday - thanks to the NHS and my incredible family I was there and managed to celebrate this special day with Josh! I really feel the stars were all aligned and it was not my time - I am truly blessed.

Jake did an amazing job with the CPR – he actually cracked/broke my ribs which the doctors and nurses said was a sign of really excellent CPR. I keep teasing Jake saying it is the most painful thing I had to recover from the whole episode! It took about four weeks before I started to have less pain but well worth the original pain! Anyone’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest outside of hospital are only 10% - as I say I am a very lucky man. The two most important lessons I have taken out of this experience are

1) To make sure that every day you tell all your family that you love them

2) That you enjoy every day that you wake up to and make the most of it – even the little things. Life is meant for living and enjoying the fact that we are alive in this amazing world. Please also try to be kind and empathetic to other people - who really knows what they have gone through or are going through. Always try to see the good in people because the vast majority have it.

I do not want to put pressure on you into making a donation that is completely up to you - as most of you know that is not my style. I however do encourage you to please learn basic CPR – Jake was not trained but the 999 lady talked through what he had to do and his presence of mind not to panic and do exactly what they said to him makes me so proud of him and of course thankful.

Jeanette was screaming "Fight Jerry Fight Jerry", and as soon as Jake told me that the next day, I remembered her saying that in my subconscious. Jake and I then had a bit of a blubber fest and the most wonderful long hug. When Josh found out from Jake what had happened he rushed to the hospital and the whole time he was driving he was talking to me saying Dad you are strong and I know you will make it.......So they all in their different ways helped me come back to life.

If you are unfortunate enough to have a cardiac arrest the most critical time to your survival are the first few minutes. Jeanette let me know that 1 in 5 of us will witness a person collapsing who requires CPR. I urge you to take the 15 minute online course mentioned below and as you could well save somebody's life.

Please click on this link to view the online 15 minute CPR training organised by the British Heart Foundation - you could save a life like my son Jake did for me! As someone told me we are all first responders. If you receive CPR immediately after a cardiac arrest your chances of surviving are doubled.

I did let my LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram contacts know about my experience and I received so many amazing touching replies. The one below really struck a cord with me - again it made Jeanette and I cry uncontrollably!

Please click on this link to get the 15 minute CPR training organised by the British Heart Foundation

Please take good care of your families and your loved ones.

Please do not knock the NHS – they are amazing when they really need to be.

I am so thankful for the amazing care I received at Harefield Hospital from everyone. By supporting the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity I hope to, in some small way, show how grateful I am to them. The charity does amazing work and you can see their current projects here

I was also very lucky to be a patient on the Oak Ward Bay 4 where I met some friends for life including Asim and his boys Rabi & John , Luke, Dennis and Geoff all lovely genuine people who had gone through similar journeys and have come out the other side better people ❤️

Thank you for reading our story and if you could share it with your loved ones and friends we would so appreciate it. At the bottom of this page are suggested ways that you can do this.

Jeremy, Jeanette, Josh and Jake

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