Dad of three “wouldn’t be here” this Christmas if it wasn’t for chance encounter with student nurse

John McKeown will be enjoying Christmas with his partner and three young children this year, but it could have been a very different story if it wasn’t for a chance encounter with a student nurse.

On Saturday 11 November, John, 37, had become unconscious at the wheel of his car and needed life-saving CPR. A passer-by flagged down a car for assistance.

As luck would have it, the car that stopped was being driven by Demi Murphy, a student nurse at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, who was coming home from a meal with friends.

Demi said: “John’s car was in the middle of the road, when I got to him, he wasn’t breathing and was unresponsive.

“I didn’t have time to think about it, I just jumped in the car and started doing CPR while he was in the drivers’ seat, and my friend was on the phone to the ambulance.”

It was during this time John’s partner, Vicky Flattery, called him to see where he was, and she ended up speaking to the young student nurse trying to save his life.

Vicky said: “Demi was trying to reassure me, telling me that the ambulance was on the way and asking me all the right questions, trying to find out if John had a pre-existing heart condition. John’s dad has a heart condition that’s genetic, but John wasn’t classed as high risk yet.

“John literally wouldn’t be here today without everything Demi did for him. I’m not usually one to believe in fate but I was sure we were going to lose him, there was someone looking over us that day.” That date already held significance for the couple as it was also the ninth anniversary of their baby boy’s death.

Demi, who has just turned 21 and has been working at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital as a student nurse for three years, continued: “Thankfully, the ambulance arrived quite quickly, and they got him out of the car and I continued CPR when John was on the floor, while the paramedics got the defibrillator. Once they had a pulse, he was put in the ambulance and taken to hospital while I spoke to the police.”

John, who lives in Norris Green, was taken to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, where they discovered he’d suffered a ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest, which is when the heart quivers instead of pumping normally. He was taken straight into the Intensive Care Unit and put onto life support because he’d been starved of oxygen, he’d had a seizure and was placed in an induced coma.

Vicky added:

“John’s now had surgery to fit an implantable cardiac defibrillator which detects and stops irregular heartbeats. He’s now at home and doing so well. He doesn’t have any memory of the incident or the few days before it happened, even some things that happened last month are hazy for him, but it could have been so much worse.

“We’re just really thankful that Demi was in the right place at the right time and all the other paramedics and hospital teams worked to save John so he could come home to his children and his family.”

David Melia, Chief Nursing Officer at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal, said:

“Demi should be incredibly proud of herself. Her quick thinking and life-saving actions mean John is here to enjoy Christmas with his family this year. I’ve no doubt that Demi has a long and successful nursing career ahead of her.”

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