Wife saved footballer husband's life as 'adrenaline just took over'

A quick-thinking wife said 'adrenaline took over' when she gave her husband CPR to save his life.

Kat Dodd said she turned over in bed when she heard her husband Adam, a footballer for Bamber Bridge FC, gasping for breath, Lancs Live reports. But Adam, 31, was unresponsive so she quickly called for an ambulance.

Kat then carried out CPR for 16 minutes, ultimately saving her husband's life. She said she had to do 'everything she could' to act fast in the moment.

READ NEXT: Disabled pensioner, 76, slapped with £70 fines for parking outside her own home

CPR was a skill she had learned in her job as a teacher but she never imagined she would have to use it on her husband. Recalling that night, she said: "I turned over and Adam was unresponsive.

"I rang 999 and was told I needed to do CPR. I had to get Adam off the bed and onto the floor and start chest compressions immediately.

"At that point, adrenaline just took over." Kat, 30, carried on with CPR for 16 minutes until paramedics arrived to take over.

With further CPR and defibrillation they were able to get Adam to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma for five days. "If you had asked me how I would have responded before, I would have assumed I’d be too scared," she said.

"In the moment, there was just no other choice – I had to do everything I could to save Adam’s life." Adam said: “I have no recollection of the two days before the cardiac arrest, or waking up in ICU.

"But I was told when Kat came to see me after I had woken up, I waved to her - and when I was asked if I know who she was, I nodded. It’s a relief as things could have turned out much worse. I simply wouldn’t be here today if Kat hadn’t given me CPR."

Now the couple have shared their experience as part of a new TV advert with Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The advert, which went live on World Heart Day (29 September) sees Kat recall the emotional moment she saw Adam in hospital for the first time after his cardiac arrest.

Adam now lives with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a small device which can help treat dangerously abnormal and life threatening heart rhythms which can cause a cardiac arrest. Football legend David Ginola also talks about his own experience of having a cardiac arrest.

The advert ends with a call for viewers to learn CPR via the BHF’s free online tool, RevivR. Launched in May this year by Sky Bet and the BHF, the groundbreaking Every Minute Matters campaign is on a mission to donate up to £3 million for the charity and to encourage 270,000 people to learn CPR.

The campaign has already helped inspire 90,000 people to start learning life-saving CPR through RevivR – enough to fill one Wembley Stadium. There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, equating to at least five every 90 minutes. Each minute that passes without CPR reduces the chance of survival by up to 10 per cent. Tragically, less than one in ten people survive, often because those around them lack the skills or confidence to perform CPR.

“Seeing someone you love have a cardiac arrest in front of you could be one of the most daunting experiences you ever have to face,” added Adam, who is part of the Sky Bet and BHF's Re-starting 11 team for the Every Minute Matters campaign. Learning that skill and being able to step in and help could make all the difference.”

Through the Every Minute Matters campaign, an incredible £639,000 has been raised for the BHF so far. This includes £380,000 from the Sky Bet Play Offs in May and £259,000 since August through Sky Bet’s pledges to donate £10,000 for every ‘stoppage time’ EFL goal and £1,000 for every goal scored over the weekend of World Heart Day.

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “At a time when British Heart Foundation’s work has never been more needed, Every Minute Matters is going from strength to strength and Sky Bet’s generous support is making a real difference. The money raised through this partnership will be truly lifesaving.”

To learn CPR in just 15 minutes, visit bhf.org.uk/revivr

Read more of today's top stories here