Man saved by hero bystander after heart stopped beating for 20 minutes at karate class
Stewart Bedford was waiting for his karate class to start when he suddenly fell to the floor without warning. At first glance it looked like he might have fainted, but it quickly became clear that something was seriously wrong. Stewart suddenly went into cardiac arrest where his heart stopped beating for a staggering 20 minutes.
Nearby swimming instructor Heidi Jones rushed into action and started performing CPR until paramedics arrived at the scene 10 minutes later.
Paramedics asked Heidi to continue with the chest compressions between shocks with a defibrillator – it was then another 10 minutes before Stewart's heart started beating again.
The 59-year-old from Shrawardine, near Shrews bury, was then taken to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and put in an induced coma for two days.
Meanwhile, all his wife, Margaret, and daughters Eleanor, 24, and Amelia, 21, could do was wait.
Stewart said: “The first thing I remember was waking up and wondering why I was there. I wasn’t aware of anything that had happened.
“I was in a lot of pain. My chest was hurting, and I felt like I’d been hit by a truck – you could still see the hand marks on my chest.”
Stewart was kept in hospital while doctors investigated what may have caused his cardiac arrest.
Thankfully, Stewart has since made a full recovery and said that without the initial support from Heidi he would "without a doubt" not be here today.
