A YEAR ago today, cinema worker Richard Breed suffered a cardiac arrest and spent Christmas in a coma.
But after being given a second chance at life, the 62-year-old is now looking forward to a very different festive season to the last one.
Richard, a maintenance superviser at Cleethorpes' Parkway Cinema, was working on December 23 when he suffered a cardiac arrest in the toilets at the venue.
He said: "The last thing I remember was being in the gents toilets. The next, I was waking up in Grimsby hospital.
"I asked my wife why I was there and what I was doing in a hospital bed and wanted to get home for Christmas.
"She told me I had missed Christmas after being in a coma for four days."
He said he will be forever thankful for the quick actions of managing director Scott Marshall, other staff at the cinema and Bob Elson, the paramedic who treated him.
Only around 10 per cent of patients survive the type of cardiac arrest he suffered.
Mr Marshall told how a cleaner raised the alarm after finding Richard collapsed.
Cinema manager Antony Maggs rang 999 and ambulance service control room staff gave advice over the phone.
Having successfully completed a First Aid course, Scott knew to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Scott said: "I was just getting going when the ambulance crew arrived. Thankfully they were here in a minute and we are extremely grateful for their response.
"I knew from the First Aid training to keep calm. But when it is someone you know it is hard. We are all like family at the cinema."
Bob and ambulance care assistant Deb Furneaux immediately began CPR and "shocked" Richard with their defibrillator three times before he was revived.
Bob said: "Three times is a lot. The aim was to get him breathing for himself. He was clearly not going to give up."
Richard was later transferred to Castlehill Hospital, Hull where surgeons fitted a stent and microscopic cardiac defibrillator.
He joked: "It is like having my own GPS. Now I can't go anywhere without my wife knowing about it."
Since the medical drama he has enjoyed a 25th wedding anniversary celebration and a trip to Barbados with his wife Susan.
He said: "It is a whole new life. Without them I would not be here. Today, I am one year old and plan to have two birthdays every year from now on.
"Since it happened I feel a lot sharper. I tend to work quicker."
He joked: "In the summer I was waking up at 4am wanting to cut the lawn and get on with jobs – until I started to think what the neighbours would say."
He said he had also enjoyed receiving messages of support from old friends who heard of his ordeal.
An old friend in Tenerife had returned in person to wish him well.
Richard, who has never smoked, and kept fit by cycling, added: "It puts your life into perspective."
East Midlands Ambulance Service operational support manager Steve Pratten said Richard's ordeal highlighted the need for a quick call to the ambulance service and the use of a defibrillator.
He said: "If the crew had not arrived so promptly it might have been a different story. Bob has 32 years with the service in Grimsby. He is a very senior paramedic. He is the one the new paramedics go to for guidance and advice and look on him as a mentor. He is also an instructor."
And now, as a result of the life-saving drama, the Parkway is leading the way in putting vital medical equipment into its venue.
Mr Pratten praised Parkway cinema for being the first cinema in the region to have its own defibrillator.
He said: "With such a huge foot fall of customers it increases the chances of survival of someone in an emergency."
