A DAD-OF-TWO who suffered a heart attack at a fitness session at Sutton Leisure Centre is thanking the nurses and staff who saved his life.

Daz Owen, 47, from Sutton Leach, is now at home recovering following the incident on Saturday February 18, where he suffered a cardiac arrest due to an undiagnosed blocked artery at a Couch to 5k event.

Other runners and centre staff, including a cardiac rehabilitation nurse Joanne Bailey, dashd to his aid, performing CPR and using the centre’s defibrillator during the crucial moments before emergency services arrived – that ultimately saved his life.

Daz’s wife Michelle, 48, said: “Words are not enough to thank Joanne and the other people who helped because without them my husband wouldn’t be here.

“His heart stopped, the defibrillator at the centre saved his life in the hands of brilliant people who stopped what they were doing to help him.

“When he gets a bit better he wants to thank them properly but for now we hope they know how grateful we are as a family for what they have done.

“We both decided to join the Couch to 5k because we wanted to get more fit, but we are both healthy so this came as a complete shock.

“Daz went on his own on the Saturday when it happened so we are just so lucky they helped him.”

Joanne Bailey, from Sutton, who was the nurse who performed CPR and used the defibrillator on Daz, added: “I am just so happy to hear that Darren is on the mend but I didn’t expect a thank you.

“It’s enough for me that he is out of hospital and doing well, I just used the skills I had to help him, anyone would have done the same.

“I know from my job that the early use of CPR and a defibrillator can make a huge difference, once I realised what was happening everyone who knew what to do just helped to save him.

“It was lovely to see that support actually, we all did it together and its had such a happy result, I send Daz wishes for a speedy recovery.”
The council has defibrillators at all its sports centres in the event someone on site suffers a heart attack and requires reviving.

Cllr Seve Gomez-Aspron, portfolio holder for leisure services, said: “A number of the participants have reported being very impressed with the calm way the situation was dealt with.

“I’d like to thank the nurses who were taking part in the session for their invaluable help, and the staff.

“Being trained may give you the knowledge, but applying it during a serious incident is another matter.”