A UK woman has reunited with the emergency responder who collapsed from a heart attack in her front room — while treating her for cardiac arrest.
Daisy Devane, 31, lost consciousness on the sofa in her Bedfordshire home in June 2022. Her partner, Eammon, 33, performed CPR before the East of England Ambulance Service Trust’s crews arrived.
Senior emergency medical technician Jeremy Williams, 55, was timing her chest compressions when he suddenly felt “excruciating” pain in his chest.
“I’ve come off a bike at high speed, so I do know what pain is but have never felt anything like I did on that day,” Williams recalled to SWNS.
His teammates quickly realized what was happening. Some continued to shock Devane — while others turned their attention to Williams to provide him an electrocardiogram.
They found he was having a heart attack.
The team worked side by side to administer each patients and transfer them to separate hospitals — Williams was taken to Lister Hospital in Hertfordshire, while Devane was transported to Bedford Hospital in Bedfordshire.
“Jeremy’s heart rate and blood pressure dropped dramatically while we were on the strategy to hospital, and at one point, I assumed he was going to enter cardiac arrest,” said Shaun Whittington, a complicated paramedic who oversaw the twin care.
Williams underwent emergency surgery to have two stents fitted to unblock the arteries around his heart.
Devane, meanwhile, spent 33 days within the hospital.
She doesn’t remember the episode, as she lost three weeks’ price of memory, but noted that she is so “grateful” to Williams and the opposite responders.
She met with Williams in February 2023 and reunited with him last month, saying she wished she had done it sooner.
“I heard about Jeremy after. I’m so grateful to him and grateful he was OK,” said Devane, an area safety manager and first aid trainer. “You may’t make it up. He saved my life.”
Devane said Eammon, a store manager, found her on the sofa unresponsive and never respiratory. He happened to be home sick that day with COVID-19.
He did chest compressions for 12 minutes before paramedics arrived.
“They were working on me for 50 minutes,” Devane said. “I had five shocks before they were capable of successfully resuscitate me.”
Williams said he was on the scene for 10 minutes when he abruptly didn’t feel well.
“It was certainly one of those things which never, ever happens,” Williams said. ”I can laugh about it now because I’m glad to be here, but when it hadn’t been for my colleagues it could be a very different story.”
Whittington said it was a sweaty, intense shift he’ll always remember.
He shared that inside just 40 minutes of treatment, Williams was a very different person.
”After we arrived, he looked like he was about to die, but after the surgery, it was like he had just come home from a vacation,” Whittington said.
“I’ve been on this job for 22 years and have never heard of anything like this happening before, and really hope it never happens again,” Whittington continued.
For her part, Devane was fitted with a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which shocks her heart if the same situation happens again.
She ended up marrying Eammon, whom she met in 2014, in an emotional July 2023 ceremony.
Devane had taught him CPR — his bosses had also sent him on a primary aid course.
“I felt very lucky to have done the primary aid course,” Eammon said.
“[CPR] is a skill everybody should know,” Devane added. “It’s a skill you never need to must use but if you happen to do, you’re so grateful to have it.”
A UK woman has reunited with the emergency responder who collapsed from a heart attack in her front room — while treating her for cardiac arrest.
Daisy Devane, 31, lost consciousness on the sofa in her Bedfordshire home in June 2022. Her partner, Eammon, 33, performed CPR before the East of England Ambulance Service Trust’s crews arrived.
Senior emergency medical technician Jeremy Williams, 55, was timing her chest compressions when he suddenly felt “excruciating” pain in his chest.
“I’ve come off a bike at high speed, so I do know what pain is but have never felt anything like I did on that day,” Williams recalled to SWNS.
His teammates quickly realized what was happening. Some continued to shock Devane — while others turned their attention to Williams to provide him an electrocardiogram.
They found he was having a heart attack.
The team worked side by side to administer each patients and transfer them to separate hospitals — Williams was taken to Lister Hospital in Hertfordshire, while Devane was transported to Bedford Hospital in Bedfordshire.
“Jeremy’s heart rate and blood pressure dropped dramatically while we were on the strategy to hospital, and at one point, I assumed he was going to enter cardiac arrest,” said Shaun Whittington, a complicated paramedic who oversaw the twin care.
Williams underwent emergency surgery to have two stents fitted to unblock the arteries around his heart.
Devane, meanwhile, spent 33 days within the hospital.
She doesn’t remember the episode, as she lost three weeks’ price of memory, but noted that she is so “grateful” to Williams and the opposite responders.
She met with Williams in February 2023 and reunited with him last month, saying she wished she had done it sooner.
“I heard about Jeremy after. I’m so grateful to him and grateful he was OK,” said Devane, an area safety manager and first aid trainer. “You may’t make it up. He saved my life.”
Devane said Eammon, a store manager, found her on the sofa unresponsive and never respiratory. He happened to be home sick that day with COVID-19.
He did chest compressions for 12 minutes before paramedics arrived.
“They were working on me for 50 minutes,” Devane said. “I had five shocks before they were capable of successfully resuscitate me.”
Williams said he was on the scene for 10 minutes when he abruptly didn’t feel well.
“It was certainly one of those things which never, ever happens,” Williams said. ”I can laugh about it now because I’m glad to be here, but when it hadn’t been for my colleagues it could be a very different story.”
Whittington said it was a sweaty, intense shift he’ll always remember.
He shared that inside just 40 minutes of treatment, Williams was a very different person.
”After we arrived, he looked like he was about to die, but after the surgery, it was like he had just come home from a vacation,” Whittington said.
“I’ve been on this job for 22 years and have never heard of anything like this happening before, and really hope it never happens again,” Whittington continued.
For her part, Devane was fitted with a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which shocks her heart if the same situation happens again.
She ended up marrying Eammon, whom she met in 2014, in an emotional July 2023 ceremony.
Devane had taught him CPR — his bosses had also sent him on a primary aid course.
“I felt very lucky to have done the primary aid course,” Eammon said.
“[CPR] is a skill everybody should know,” Devane added. “It’s a skill you never need to must use but if you happen to do, you’re so grateful to have it.”
