FelixAntonius
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2001
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From todays Daily Telegraph:-
Crash bump-started dying man's heart.
A medical professor whose car hit a tree after he suffered a cardiac arrest was brought back to life when the impact of the steering wheel against his chest restarted his heart, he said yesterday.
Prof Ronald Mann said he owed his life to a "remarkable and very unusual" event.
"I am in no doubt that I would have spent the rest of my day at the undertaker's had things not happened the way they did.
"It is known that a sharp blow to the chest can act in the same way as a defibrillator but it is a very rare occurrence and I have had no previous experience of this," said 77-year-old Prof Mann.
"I had the kind of heart attack that causes people to drop dead. I lost consciousness within a few seconds. My front-seat passenger tried to grab the handbrake but my car crashed into a tree."
"Although I was wearing a seat-belt the impact caused me to jolt forward and hit the steering wheel. It split in two but the blow restarted my heart.
"I consider myself very fortunate because, perversely, the crash saved my life. If my cardiac arrest had occurred in a different situation, out walking or something like that, I would not be here."
The fact that Prof Mann's 10-year-old Honda did not have an airbag also contributed to his survival.
The professor, who edits a specialist medical journal and formerly ran a research unit at Southampton General Hospital, suffered a heart attack 11 years ago but said he had felt "very well" until the crash.
It happened as he was negotiating a bend near Horndean, on the Hampshire-Sussex border. "Fortunately I was travelling slowly but even so my three passengers and I had to be cut free. I had come round by then and the emergency services were wonderful."
They were taken to hospital where Prof Mann, a widower from Waterlooville, Hants, remained for six weeks. He is now back at work after surgeons at Southampton General implanted a defibrillator and pacemaker.
Dr John Morgan, the consultant cardiologist who treated Prof Mann, said: "He is a very lucky chap. I have never come across a case quite like this before.
"Hitting the steering wheel brought the heart back into a normal rhythm and shocked it into working again. Had he not hit the steering wheel he would be dead. We have now implanted a defibrillator which can shock his heart back into normal rhythm again.
"It is definitely a safer way of doing it than using a steering wheel."
Pc Caroline Lowe, who attended the crash, said: "It is memorable as the crash gave life rather than took it away. It's a nice story."
Cathy Ross, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "A thump in the right place can act as a defribillator and can restart the heart. It's a one -in-a-million chance really. The gentleman was very lucky."
Source:- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... xhome.html
Crash bump-started dying man's heart.
A medical professor whose car hit a tree after he suffered a cardiac arrest was brought back to life when the impact of the steering wheel against his chest restarted his heart, he said yesterday.
Prof Ronald Mann said he owed his life to a "remarkable and very unusual" event.
"I am in no doubt that I would have spent the rest of my day at the undertaker's had things not happened the way they did.
"It is known that a sharp blow to the chest can act in the same way as a defibrillator but it is a very rare occurrence and I have had no previous experience of this," said 77-year-old Prof Mann.
"I had the kind of heart attack that causes people to drop dead. I lost consciousness within a few seconds. My front-seat passenger tried to grab the handbrake but my car crashed into a tree."
"Although I was wearing a seat-belt the impact caused me to jolt forward and hit the steering wheel. It split in two but the blow restarted my heart.
"I consider myself very fortunate because, perversely, the crash saved my life. If my cardiac arrest had occurred in a different situation, out walking or something like that, I would not be here."
The fact that Prof Mann's 10-year-old Honda did not have an airbag also contributed to his survival.
The professor, who edits a specialist medical journal and formerly ran a research unit at Southampton General Hospital, suffered a heart attack 11 years ago but said he had felt "very well" until the crash.
It happened as he was negotiating a bend near Horndean, on the Hampshire-Sussex border. "Fortunately I was travelling slowly but even so my three passengers and I had to be cut free. I had come round by then and the emergency services were wonderful."
They were taken to hospital where Prof Mann, a widower from Waterlooville, Hants, remained for six weeks. He is now back at work after surgeons at Southampton General implanted a defibrillator and pacemaker.
Dr John Morgan, the consultant cardiologist who treated Prof Mann, said: "He is a very lucky chap. I have never come across a case quite like this before.
"Hitting the steering wheel brought the heart back into a normal rhythm and shocked it into working again. Had he not hit the steering wheel he would be dead. We have now implanted a defibrillator which can shock his heart back into normal rhythm again.
"It is definitely a safer way of doing it than using a steering wheel."
Pc Caroline Lowe, who attended the crash, said: "It is memorable as the crash gave life rather than took it away. It's a nice story."
Cathy Ross, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "A thump in the right place can act as a defribillator and can restart the heart. It's a one -in-a-million chance really. The gentleman was very lucky."
Source:- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... xhome.html
