John Parnell
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Type of incident - Hospital Transfer
Date of incident - 29/06/04
Location - William Harvey Hospital, Ashford
On 24 June 2004, John (aged 59 at the time) and wife Joy were driving home having visited their son, when John suddenly began to feel unwell. He started suffering chest pains in the car and, at one point, even had to stop on the side of the road. John managed to complete his journey but the pain continued. They called an ambulance and John was taken to William Harvey hospital, in Ashford, that day. John was kept in overnight for observation.
On 29 June 2004, John had an angiogram but
half-way through the procedure suffered a heart attack. Because of the severity
of the situation, John had to be taken to
The flight took just 27 minutes. John was immediately rushed into theatre to have stents inserted into his chest. Later, his Doctor said that if John had arrived just 2 minutes later he would have died. John has no recollection of the next 2 days but recalls feeling ‘gobsmacked and elated’ when he regained consciousness. John was kept in hospital for 6 days, before being allowed to return home.
Remarkably, John has been in good health ever since. He has a check-up every 6 months and will continue to do so for the rest of his life. It is a testament to the Air Ambulance that he was able to tell us his story, as he says; ‘The service provided by the Air Ambulance is unbelievable. If I’d gone by road, I don’t think I would have got to the M25’.
In late 2004, John and his wife Joy came to the Kent Air Ambulance base to say thank you. They left as volunteers! He now spends much of his spare time manning stalls, attending cheque presentations and representing the charity at various fundraising events, held in the county.
