Yves Gilles is an active 55-year-old entrepreneur who also serves as mayor of the village of Brimeux, France. In his free time, Yves enjoys playing sports, especially football.

On a pleasant summer day in 2023, Yves joined family and friends who had gathered to enjoy a football tournament. In an ironic twist, the match had been organised in tribute to a friend who had died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2022.

Yves had been feeling a little tired the previous day, but he decided to play in the tournament anyway. Just as the game was finishing up, he started to notice heart palpitations. Ten minutes later, Yves fell to the ground, unconscious.

[The ZOLL] defibrillator saved me.

— Yves Gilles, SCA Survivor

People who witnessed Yves’s collapse were initially not sure what had happened or how to respond — for example, the goalkeeper thought that he had fainted, perhaps due to heat or exhaustion.

A nurse who happened to be nearby quickly called emergency services, and several doctors who were also in the area rushed to the scene. They quickly realised that Yves had suffered sudden cardiac arrest and started performing CPR.

Meanwhile, two players from Yves’s football team rushed to retrieve the AED that was located near the stadium. Unfortunately, the AED that they found (which was not a ZOLL® device) was nonfunctional as its battery had run out. The two then rushed to the next village — a full kilometre down the road — and located a ZOLL AED Plus®. Aware that a quick response was critical, the pair made it back to Yves with the AED in less than 10 minutes.

Two shocks from the AED Plus restored Yves’s heart rhythm just prior to the arrival of the emergency services team — which showed up about 15 minutes after he collapsed. A few minutes later, he remembers waking up in the ambulance.

After 10 days of intensive care in the hospital, Yves is now equipped with a subcutaneous defibrillator. He was fortunate to have suffered no brain or heart damage. Following a month of cardiac rehabilitation in Bethune, Yves continues to be monitored by a cardiologist.

Reflecting on his experience, Yves admits to occasional guilty feelings. “Why was I one of the lucky few that survived? It is a miracle.” He adds, “[The ZOLL] defibrillator saved me.”

Thanks to quick availability of this lifesaving device and the quick actions of friends and bystanders, Yves is able to share his story today. And he does just that, talking to as many people as possible about the importance of responding quickly, having an AED that’s easily accessible, and maintaining it correctly.

After all, Yves says, “I am lucky enough to get a second chance at life.”