A heart attack survivor says his near-death experience has “changed the way I look at things” after paramedics found him unconscious outside a shop. Cerwin Meijer needed 11 shocks from a defibrillator after he collapsed near the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton while waiting for blood test results. The 43-year-old and his wife Marta have now been reunited with the paramedics who found him and saved him.
He said: “My collapse really did have an impact on my life and has changed the way I look at things. “Since the incident we have got married, and we also now have a son, Marcus.” Cerwin, from Brighton, had been suffering with chest and arm pain through the evening of July 21, 2022, and Marta took him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
They were unable to find anywhere to park so Marta said she would pick him up in a few hours. When she heard nothing from him she called the hospital to find he had collapsed while walking to a nearby shop. Paramedics Nathan Murphy, Megan Lewis, Victoria Keats, Gerry Davis and Donna Finnis stepped in after finding Cerwin lying on the pavement unconscious.
Gerry said: “Cerwin has received the most shocks I have personally given to any patient in my career. "It was a fantastic feeling for us all to achieve a return of spontaneous circulation on scene and an even better feeling to meet with him in person in such positive circumstances.” Cerwin made a full recovery after two weeks of hospital treatment.
He and Marta have now visited South East Coast Ambulance Service’s Brighton Make Ready Centre to say thank you to the paramedics for saving his life..
