Welsh Ambulance Service volunteer reunites with colleagues who helped save his life

22.10.2025

A Welsh Ambulance Service volunteer has met with the colleagues who saved his life after he had a cardiac arrest at home.

David Martin, 48, from Rumney, Cardiff, had been volunteering as a Community First Responder (CFR) for five years prior to his cardiac arrest in July last year.

David, who works in the security industry and lives with his partner, Lauren, 38, began feeling unwell while at home.

As his symptoms worsened and he began to deteriorate, he knew all too well what was likely to be causing his illness.

David said: “As a CFR, I’ve been attending incidents for several years and of course, I’ve had really regular and thorough training, which helps me recognise and treat patients in the community.

“When I began feeling unwell, I immediately recognised the symptoms and came to the unsettling realisation that I was probably having a heart attack.”

Fortunately, David was not alone in his home and by pure chance, had a cleaner at his property who was doing their first ever shift at the address.

However, instead of calling for an ambulance, David opted to call his colleague, who lived close by, instructing them to retrieve a defibrillator and bring it to his home.

David continued: “I know that with a cardiac arrest, it is vital to start the chain of survival as quickly as possible.

“This means getting a defibrillator available and beginning CPR as soon as you can.

“I wasn’t absolutely certain I was about to go into cardiac arrest but all my instincts were telling me to get prepared and luckily, my boss, Paul, was on hand to grab the defibrillator and rush over to my home.”

However, before Paul could get the defibrillator, David had deteriorated to the point where his cleaner rang 999 for an ambulance.

Paramedics Nathan Moruzzi and Emma Gibbison arrived on scene just minutes later and began treating David.

Emma recalled: “David was upstairs in his bedroom complaining of extreme chest pain and within just a minute or two of arriving, he went into cardiac arrest, and we called for back-up.

“A second ambulance arrived on-scene shortly afterwards and we were then joined by the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer team on board a Wales Air Ambulance helicopter.”

To make matters even worse, David was on the upper floor of his home, where it quickly became apparent that extricating him from the property would not be possible via the steep and narrow stairs.

In an extraordinary sequence of events, the crew, along with colleagues from the police and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service closed off the road outside David’s home and began the difficult task of getting him from the top floor of the property and into the waiting ambulance below.

David said: “Although I have no recollection of the incident, I have seen lots of things on social media and have spoken to people who were there.

“The doctors told me that I received 16 shocks from the defibrillator and that the CPR went on for a full hour while they fought to keep me alive and get me into hospital.”

To safely remove David from his home while simultaneously allowing clinicians to treat him, crews from the fire service removed the top floor window and used a specialist crane to bring him outside where he could be taken straight to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

David had a second cardiac arrest while under the care of doctors on the cardiac care unit and would go on to spend eight weeks in hospital, two of which were in an induced coma.

Despite his ordeal, David is now well on the way to a full recovery and has returned to work.

He has even managed to retain his sense of humour, joking: “My poor cleaner will never forget her first shift at my house and I completely understand why she didn’t come back for any more shifts.”

When someone has a cardiac arrest, they collapse and become unresponsive.

They either stop breathing entirely or they may take gasping or infrequent breaths for a few minutes, which can be mistaken for snoring.

Carl Powell, Clinical Lead for Acute Care at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “David's story is remarkable and shows how people can survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

“The initial call for help in such circumstances should always be to 999, to put into place a timely ambulance response as the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest improve when the whole chain of survival is put into immediate action.

“This is shown by the prompt actions of the cleaner who should be commended.

“Her call put into action the chain of survival and David's outcome is a fabulous example of this."

For those affected by cardiac arrest, the Welsh Ambulance Service, Save a Life Cymru and the Resuscitation Council UK have partnered to provide tailored support and guidance for survivors, families, and responders, focusing on both emotional and physical recovery.

The resources also include dedicated support for young people, co-survivors, and bystanders.

How you can help further:

Learn how to perform CPR. The Resuscitation Council UK has produced this step-by-step guide: How to do CPR | Resuscitation Council UK

Volunteer locally: Become a Community Welfare Responder, then a Community First Responder, trained to attend 999 calls and provide CPR and defibrillation.

Register defibrillators: Add new or existing devices to The Circuit, the national defibrillator network, so 999 call handlers can locate them quickly.

Register on the GoodSAM app if you are a qualified first aider to get an alert if there is a cardiac arrest in your area and start the ‘chain of survival’ before an ambulance arrives.