Lee and Krystalla’s story: “Thanks to CPR my husband lived to see our baby daughter”

Krystalla's story

“Lee and I met on a dating site and it just worked out between us. We lived together through lockdown, and we figured if we survived that time as a couple we should get married. A week before we did, we found out that I was expecting, which was a lovely surprise.

But the next year our lives took a turn neither of us could have expected. It was 11 July 2021, the first day of my maternity leave. Up to that day Lee had been really fit and healthy and his family had no history of heart problems.

I was woken by an almighty crash

We spent a lovely day with friends and went to bed around midnight. I was woken by an almighty crash. I thought it was Lee knocking over a plant in the bathroom. But our dog ran upstairs, and something made me get up and check if Lee was OK.

I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I tried to push the door open and I could not get in, so I really started to panic. So I just ran at the door and elbowed it. Lee’s feet were up against the bathroom door and he was lying against the shower in a really contorted position. I knew immediately something was really wrong.

Lee was struggling to breathe

I managed to roll Lee over as he was on his side with his head wedged under the bath. God knows how I managed that as I was eight months pregnant, but adrenaline just kicked in. When I turned him over, I could see he was struggling to breathe.

By that time he was not breathing and I knew I needed to start CPR

The emergency call handler talked me through CPR. She told me I needed to keep going and she’d let me know when the paramedics arrived at the house so I could run down and let them in.

When they arrived, I ran to open the door and shouted: ‘He’s upstairs’. They took over CPR so I just sat on the landing holding his feet. Then they told me I’d have to let go because they were going to shock him with a defibrillator.

After three shocks Lee started breathing again.

Our daughter Martha was born a few weeks later

Lee was taken to hospital, where they put him into an induced coma. After three days they were able to wake him up. We’d already decided to call our daughter Martha and the first thing he said to me after waking up was: ‘Where’s Martha?’. He did not remember that she had not been born yet.

I had Lee and Martha to look after, and there was no one to look after me

Lee came home from hospital after three weeks and I had about seven days with him before Martha was born. When I came home with her, Lee could not really lift anything. I had Lee and Martha to look after, and there was no one to look after me. The Olympic Games were on at the time and all we could do was watch that and hold Martha. We were just in survival mode for a few months.

Later I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and I had some incredible therapy, which really helped. Thanks to that I was able to go back to work. Lee also had therapy. It helped give us the tools to be able to deal with what we had been through.

I take so many photos of Martha and Lee together, because this is something I might never have seen. It’s the little moments that make me emotional, like seeing Lee read or sing to Martha. I think he’s an amazing person and the thought that he almost did not get to meet this incredible little human being is heartbreaking. Thankfully, I knew how to do CPR and was able to jump into action in that moment.” 

Lee's story

I do not remember anything of that day, but Krystalla has told me it had been a really nice, chilled day. It was four weeks before our baby daughter was due, and we had friends over and played some board games.

I’ve had to rely on Krystalla to tell me what happened that night. In the early hours I had got up to go to the bathroom and Krystalla was woken by an almighty crash – apparently that was me collapsing into the shower screen.

I was so lucky that Krystalla knew how to do CPR. She dialled 999 and did chest compressions on me until the paramedics arrived and took over.

I was fitted with an ICD

The next thing I remember is recovering in intensive care. At first I did not realise the gravity of what I’d been through and brushed it off a bit. I was moved to critical care for 16 days and it took me that entire time to understand what Krystalla had done to save my life. I felt very emotional and proud.

Martha was born a few weeks after my cardiac arrest. I am so grateful to be here to be a dad to Martha. The most distressing thing was thinking that she could have been left without a dad before she was even born. I was so close to not meeting her at all.

It took time to understand what I'd been through and that Krystalla had saved my life

In hospital they fitted me with an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator). If my heart goes into a dangerous rhythm, the ICD will kick in and shock it back to a normal rhythm. Unfortunately, in March the next year I had an episode where my ICD had to give me a shock. I’d got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I’d collapsed; almost exactly like I had done before, but thankfully the ICD kicked in.

 I had counselling for anxiety

After that I was put on beta blockers, which are used to treat some heart rhythm disorders, and flecainide, a medicine to prevent and treat abnormally fast heart rhythms. I had one more episode of an abnormal heart rhythm in 2022 when we were at my mother-in-law’s for Christmas and I forgot to take my evening dose of flecainide.

That was the first one Martha had seen. She was only 16 months and she thought I was playing hide and seek because I fell down behind the couch. Thankfully, I’ve had no episodes since then.

The ICD captured information about these episodes, and after that I was diagnosed with an electrical problem in my heart that can trigger a cardiac arrest.

I had counselling and CBT to help me cope with difficult feelings

Psychologically it has been quite tough for me to deal with. I had some counselling, which gave me an opportunity to talk through what had happened. I’ve also experienced anxiety and depression and so I’ve had some cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help me cope with those difficult feelings.

I decided to nominate Krystalla for a CPR Hero Award in the BHF Heart Hero Awards 2023 to show my gratitude to her for saving my life. She does not like being the centre of attention, but I just wanted to shine a spotlight on her and show people how amazing she is.”

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