In early March 2025, a husband and wife (who requested anonymity for this story) returned to their home in County Mayo, Ireland, late in the evening after attending a funeral in Northern Ireland. At around 1:30 a.m., the husband awoke abruptly, complaining of severe chest pain radiating down his left arm. Suspecting a heart attack, his wife immediately called the National Ambulance Service (NAS).
NAS dispatched an ambulance immediately, but because of the remote location to the couple’s home, she was told that it likely wouldn’t arrive for 70 minutes.
Realising the importance of quick action, she called neighbours Jim Corrigan and Peter Snell, both retired (ex-Garda and office worker). They responded immediately to find the victim, ashen grey and sweating profusely, collapsed onto a settee. Jim immediately gave him 300mg of aspirin to self-administer. The victim barely had time to describe his pain level as 9 out of 10 before experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest.
Although neither Jim nor Peter had ever previously needed to use their lifesaving skills in a real SCA event, they remained calm and worked together. Jim, who had brought a ZOLL® AED with him, recalls going into a training mode mindset based on his experience teaching CFR-C first aid courses.
“We were there when the victim went into cardiac arrest, and our CPR training held us in good stead.”
– Peter Snell
Jim and Peter immediately began CPR and applied the AED defibrillator. With guidance from the 999 Ambulance Control emergency dispatcher, who had kept the original call active, the two were able to restart the victim’s heart after ongoing CPR and delivering three shocks from the AED.
His condition stabilised, although remaining in a critical condition when the NAS team arrived and took over. The NAS crew thanked Jim and Peter for their quick and skillful handling of the situation. The NAS crew displayed their usual high degree of professionalism and were empathetic to and sensitive with the patient’s wife, keeping her fully informed of proposed treatment and ensuring a speedy and safe transport to the cardiac unit at the Galway Regional Hospital.
Today, the survivor continues to make daily progress toward recovery and expresses tremendous gratitude to his friends for their prompt, professional actions. The three meet regularly for coffee and socialising, with a new appreciation for the importance of quick action and a willingness to help.
“Keeping Ireland rescue-ready isn’t just our mission, it’s our responsibility. Seeing a ZOLL AED we supplied step in at a critical moment and help save a life is something we will never take lightly. Through the Heroes for Life programme, this life-saving rescue now leads to another AED being placed in the community, giving even more people the power to act when every second counts. That’s how real impact grows.”
– Fleming Medical