A man who stopped breathing on a plane at Heathrow Airport has expressed his gratitude after being saved by the emergency services' fast response and life-saving surgery.
Glyn Danks, 68, had boarded his Etihad Airways flight home to Australia on August 22, after five weeks of visiting his family in the UK.
As the plane was leaving the terminal, Glyn – who “didn't feel ill at all” on departure – lost consciousness, collapsed and stopped breathing.
The flight crew began CPR before calling the emergency services and the Heathrow Passenger Experience team was on board in under two minutes.
In other news in west London
Glyn had suffered a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm – a swelling in the main blood vessel that runs from the heart down to the chest and stomach.
“The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of the plane," the Australian national said.
“I could see lots of feet and I could hear lots of different people shouting and giving lots of advice.”
After being rushed to Hillingdon Hospital , the 68-year-old underwent a CT scan, after which Dr Rakesh Patel identified he needed life-saving treatment.
The consultant interventional radiologist said: “I work at Hillingdon and Northwick Park , which are two separate trusts.
“I have an iPad, provided by Hillingdon, which allows me to access patient information and CT scans.
“Fortunately, I had it here at Northwick Park when the registrar came in and said 'we have got this referral from Hillingdon'.
“I took the iPad out, saw that the patient had a ruptured aneurysm and said 'the patient needs to be transferred now'.”
'Fatal unless treated immediately'
Glyn was then taken to Northwick Park Hospital, an 11-mile drive away in Harrow , for life-saving surgery at the specialist vascular and interventional radiology centre.
“The next thing I remember was waking up in hospital and being advised I had to have a major operation,” he said.
“If I didn't have the operation, it would be the end – there was no option but to have it.”
The rupture the Australian suffered, according to endovascular surgeon Mr Selva Theivacumar, was “fatal unless treated immediately”.
Glyn, who is originally from Abbey Wood in London, was discharged on August 28 and he has since flown back to his home in Perth, Western Australia.
“Everyone who looked after me was brilliant,” he added.
“Everything happened in a straight line - it all worked and could not have been better.
“I've had no pain or discomfort following the operation and the procedure has been marvellous.
“I feel very privileged and grateful to be here – 99 people wouldn't be. I will make my life as good as possible for the however many years I've got left.”
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