The importance of learning CPR: Emma tells her story

What is CPR?

CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is an emergency procedure to get your heart beating again when it unexpectedly stops (cardiac arrest). When your heart stops beating it stops pumping blood around your body - starving your brain of oxygen. The longer your brain goes without oxygen, the greater the chance of brain damage and death. CPR can keep your blood pumping until professional medical help arrives.

How to do CPR

Without CPR, your chance of dying dramatically increases after cardiac arrest. By learning CPR, you can become a hero and save someone else's life. Minutes spent learning CPR can mean a lifetime saved. The British Heart Foundation's RevivR campaign puts this power in your hands. Taking its free 15-minute online CPR course means you could be ready to act in an emergency.

For Emma Kenyon, a typical February evening in 2021 turned into a medical emergency when her husband Matt went into cardiac arrest at their West Yorkshire home. Emma - a mum of two - immediately sprang into action, performing CPR on Matt until emergency services arrived.

"It began with him being unable to sleep because of what he thought was bad indigestion," says the former design manager. "He then developed a pain in his chest that travelled down his arms and across his back.

"I called 111 for advice, who sent an ambulance as a precaution. He started to feel a little better until he suddenly went dizzy and fell unconscious. That's when I called 999."

With no prior knowledge of CPR, Emma relied on the emergency call handler, who coached her through each step. In what must have been a terrifying experience, Emma followed the instructions closely, performing CPR on Matt until the paramedics got there.

Thankfully, her quick thinking and careful attention to the operator's guidance helped save her husband's life.

"Since Matt's heart attack and cardiac arrest, I set up a Facebook group called Local Lifesavers that provides free CPR training opportunities to members of my local community. About 300 people have attended these courses over the last few years - that's 300 people who before this training might not have been able to act in an emergency."

Emma is raising funds to replace the defibrillator pads at Emley Moor Working Men's Club, West Yorkshire. This is to ensure their availability for emergencies and support ongoing maintenance.

For more inspiring stories about the life-saving power of CPR, tune in to Andy's story.