Gordon Budge

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Type of Incident: Heart attack

Date of Incident: March 3, 2010

Time: 1.15pm

Location: Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex

 

 

As an engineering manager for oil giants British Petroleum, Gordon Budge’s work often takes him around the world.

 

Gordon, from Aberdeen in Scotland, was based in Cairo in Egypt before he took up a posting in Sunbury-on-Thames.

 

His new office allowed him free use of a gym so one lunchtime, Celtic fan Gordon decided to play five-a-side football with some colleagues.

 

But during the kickabout, the 48-year-old father-of-one complained of chest pains and was forced to pull out. The non-smoker then suffered a cardiac arrest, having had no history of heart trouble.

 

He said: “I remember being at work and playing football. I had to stop and come off because I didn’t feel particularly well, then I went into cardiac arrest.

 

“The first I knew about it was 10 days later when I woke up hooked up to all these tubes. It was only then that I realised the seriousness of the situation.”

 

A 19-year-old assistant at the gym gave Gordon basic first aid as the Surrey Air Ambulance was called and landed next to the gym less than 15 minutes later.

 

It took a paramedic four electric shocks with a defibrillator to bring Gordon back to life before the helicopter crew gave assistance.

 

They accompanied him in a land ambulance to St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey where a stent was put into a blocked artery and he remained in a medical coma for nine days.

 

Doctors later diagnosed a high cholesterol, for which he is now taking medication.

 

He said: “I’m so grateful to the land and air ambulances because without them I would not be here, it’s as simple as that.

 

“By far and away the most important message is that they were there to help me out and get me to hospital as quickly as possible. Their skill and professionalism saved my life.

 

“My life was on a knife edge because anyone who needs four electric shocks to bring them back round…that’s pretty serious stuff.

 

“I know I’m lucky to be alive because I know people in similar situations who have not been so fortunate.”

 

While working at BP, Gordon would live in nearby Weybridge during the week before flying back home at weekends.

 

Following his heart attack, the firm arranged to fly Gordon’s wife Ruth, 47, an NHS dietician, and daughter Kirstin, 15, down from Scotland.

 

Ruth said: “I was quite calm and in control, it was like I was more numbed. I was just trying to keep focused and not letting negative thoughts into my mind.

 

“I feel that without the response he had, things would have been much worse. The crucial intervention of the helicopter emergency medical service is what saved his life.”

 

Just two weeks after his health scare, Gordon phoned Surrey Air Ambulance doctor Kyle Jacques to thank him and the crew for saving his life.

 

He is still off work and is still unable to drive but expects to make a full recovery.

 

Dr Kyle said: “He was told at the hospital that he would not have survived if it had not been for the helicopter emergency medical service crew. He really is a lucky man.”