‘I had heart attack in motorway services and off-duty paramedic saved my life’

A man who pulled into motorway services for a quick coffee break and ended up having a heart attack has revealed how an off-duty paramedic saved his life. Mick Shaw, 61, from Derbyshire, was travelling home and celebrating the news of his newborn grandson with his wife.

The dad-of-two usually stopped at Toddington Services - but when they went to a different service station and he fell ill, a life-saving medical worker was on hand to help. Mick and his wife Kay, from Heanor, Derbyshire were travelling from their home to visit their newborn grandson, Rory, in Kent.

But on their way back whilst driving on the M1, the couple decided against stopping for a break at their usual favourite, Toddington Services. Around 19 miles later, the happy grandparents pulled into Newport^[1] Pagnall instead, but things then took a dramatic turn for the worse as Mick collapsed.

It would later be established he had suffered a sudden heart attack after getting out of his car at the station. Luckily for Mick, the decision to opt for a different fuel stop from usual turned out to be a life-saving choice - as an off-duty paramedic happened to be on hand, having pulled into the same service station. He sprang into action and administered immediate assistance while having an ambulance called, reports MirrorOnline^[2].

Mick, who had no symptoms before the attack, told The Mirror: "I asked my wife if she wanted to stop at the services, which she didn't. So we went to the next service station, pulled in for a coffee and I got out of the car and had a heart attack.

"It hit me as I walked to the back of the car. Fortunately, very fortunately, there was an off-duty paramedic next to me and he was just walking back to his car with his family. It was unbelievable."

He added: "Lucky enough I wasn't still driving on the motorway but I could have stopped at any services but I just decided to stop at that one with a paramedic parked next to me. He asked my wife to dial 999 and he looked after me and said he knew what was happening.

"I was pretty much out of it at this stage. Next thing I know, I can see the blue lights coming off the slip road into the services."

Mick was rushed to Oxford Hospital and had a stent fitted to aid his recovery in the wake of the attack on October 10, 2020. "I went and had a stent fitted which is a remarkable thing to happen because you are almost switched back on," he said.

The grandad-of-three said he was "essentially" on his own as he spent four days recovering in Oxford coronary care unit in the midst of the coronavirus^[3] pandemic. "You are discharged almost into self-care because of Covid," he added. "So it was a case of almost finding your way with a little bit of guidance over the telephone from a cardiac nurse."

The factory manager said doctors suspected the heart attack was linked to his genetics and family history as his father previously endured two non-fatal heart attacks.

"There was not really anything potentially I could have done apart from look after my cholesterol," he said. But this wasn't Mick's first near-death encounter, as when he was younger, his car was hit head-on by a drunk driver.

The person was driving their van on the wrong side of the road when he crashed into Mick, which sadly put an end to his 30-year-long career as a judo instructor in October 2000. His fitness, which had been top-level prior to the crash, had massively declined as a result - but ironically the heart attack spurred him to make a change.

"I wanted to get back to a degree of fitness I'd always been reasonably fit," he said. "I did martial arts judo for 30 years at black belt level. So I had been fit but the first sort of medical emergency I had was being put out of a car crash minus my right knee which had to be rebuilt."

Mick revealed before the heart attack he was a "big snacker" and said he would scoff crisps and chocolate around "mid-morning". He admitted he had "no real portion control" and said: "I think we all know what we should eat or shouldn't eat. But you almost do it without thinking - you eat anything. You know, you're indestructible. Nothing's gonna happen.

"But it just catches up with you. The weight is on and the heart attack is waiting to happen."

Mick, who weighed more than 17 stone at the time of his heart attack, described how it felt "demoralising" to see how quickly he would be out of breath after the medical emergency. He is now training to become a personal trainer after dropping nearly four stone in the space of 11 months.

"Walking after the heart attack when you just walk 100 yards up the road and back and you're out of breath was really worrying. It was frightening just how far the lack of fitness and the heart attack combined takes you really."

As soon as the gyms opened back up, he decided to join his local venue and was later put on the right path with a nutritionist. Mick was put on a new diet, which consisted of high protein, low fat and low carbs.

The grandad, who is now 61, decided to start working with a personal trainer. After previously mentoring young people in judo, Mick realised he could "give back" through his newfound love for nutrition and applied for a Level 2 Gym Instructor course with The Fitness Group^[4].

Mick, 61, says his workouts have not only benefitted his mental health but also his family life. Now, when he visits his son Richard, 38, in Kent, he can do the "difficult grandparent stuff" with Rory, who is now three.

He described his ability to be able to do activities with his grandchildren as feeling "free." Speaking about his family, he said: "It feels like you are walking on air. You don't feel constrained by anything, in terms of what you can or can't do such as bending over or kneeling down."

He continued: "And when we go down to see Rory, he's got a big trampoline in the garden. So in terms of physical activity, there's that. I [also] do a lot of reading and jigsaws. All that difficult grandparent stuff."

Mick says he has been open about his health struggles with his teenage grandchildren Lily, 17, and Jaden, 15, who he takes with him to his local gym when he visits his oldest son Rob, 40, who lives nearby in Heanor.

"It's nice that I can take them with me," he said. "They know what I went through with the heart attack. We discussed it."

He added: "But in more recent times, they've seen me get fit and lose weight and be more active so I asked them if they want to go to the gym and they were up for it."

He said: "I'm doing a level two gym instructor course at the moment online through The Fitness Group. A key part of the first few modules discusses the importance of creating a welcoming atmosphere, which is something that resonates with me.

"Once I've done that level two, then I can go on to level three personal trainer. That's the ultimate aim."

Mick hopes to continue to be fit into his retirement and has urged others to "bite the bullet" and start their fitness journey. He admitted that starting the gym can feel "daunting" but said it is never too late.

"Don't wait. If you know you can get into shape just do it," he said. "There's always people in the gym that that will help."

References

1. ^{^} Newport (www.walesonline.co.uk)
2. ^{^} reports MirrorOnline (www.mirror.co.uk)
3. ^{^} coronavirus (www.walesonline.co.uk)
4. ^{^} The Fitness Group (www.thefitnessgrp.co.uk)