Off-duty Royal Papworth nurse saves man who had heart attack

An off-duty cardiology nurse has helped save a man's life after he collapsed with a heart attack.

Miroslaw Dziadosz, 54, had the cardiac arrest shortly after leaving a shop in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, on 21 June. He did not breathe for eight minutes.

Deputy sister Claire Chapman arrived within minutes of his collapse and helped give him CPR.

Ms Chapman, from the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Trust, said she was "glad I was there at the right time".

Two off-duty police officers were the first on the scene.

Ms Chapman had "just been shopping for tea that night" when she saw a group of people as she left the shop.

"I went over and saw that someone had collapsed, checked his pulse - which wasn't there - and saw that all the colour was drained from his face," she said.

"Instinct kicked in and I went into auto pilot, performing CPR in rotation with a couple of other people and we managed to get Mr Dziadosz breathing again."

Mr Dziadosz was taken to Royal Papworth, Cambridge, for emergency insertion of stents to unblock his arteries.

Ms Chapman, who has worked on the hospital's cardiology wards for 12 years, was reunited with Mr Dziadosz the next day at work.

His son Mateusz and daughter-in-law Monika presented her with flowers to say thank you.

Mrs Dziadosz said: "The doctor said that without Claire's actions my father-in-law would not have survived.

"If it had to happen, we are so glad it happened when it did, when people were about to help."

Ms Chapman said: "You hope to never use your CPR skills but it is so important we are all trained in case this happens - I am just glad I was there at the right time."

Mr Dziadosz is now recovering at home.

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