GPs in Kent saved the life of a man who collapsed outside their surgery after having a heart attack.
Dr Chris Sawyer, and other GPs at The Medical Centre in Tunbridge Wells, resuscitated 79-year-old Michael Thorpe after he went into cardiac arrest on the pavement outside the surgery.
Dr Sawyer told Kent Live that Mr Thorpe had no pulse when the doctors arrived and was on the ground for about 40 minutes in total.
‘He was dead when I arrived – no pulse,’ Dr Sawyer said. ‘We resuscitated him for 15 minutes in the rain, we used the defibrillator.’
The South East Coast Ambulance Service told Kent Live that the doctors’ quick arrival on the scene was ‘vital for giving the patient the best chance of survival’.
Mr Thorpe’s son said: ‘It was bucketing it down with rain and my poor father was just lying in the rain on the pavement and a couple of passers-by noticed him. I was told there was a new doctor there and she was the one who managed to get his heart going.’
Mr Thorpe remains in critical condition at Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Dr Sawyer said Mr Thorpe was progressing well at Tunbridge Wells Hospital and was sitting up, eating and mobilising.
