COMPANY director Tom Lonergan says the expertise of Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s paramedics and the speed of its helicopter saved his life.

Tom, 56, suffered a major cardiac arrest at home in Marlborough on 5 September 2016. His wife Mary called 999 and, fortunately, land ambulance paramedics were just three minutes away. They arrived and carried out CPR on Tom, which restarted his heart.

Due to the seriousness of Tom’s condition they called for Wiltshire Air Ambulance to attend and it arrived in eight minutes.

The air ambulance paramedics carefully assessed Tom’s condition and took him to Southampton General Hospital, a major trauma centre, as this would be best suited to his needs rather than the nearest hospital. Tom was flown by Wiltshire Air Ambulance to Southampton in 12 minutes. During the 12-minute flight he almost went into cardiac arrest but the crew stabilised him rapidly.

Shortly after he arrived at the hospital, Tom went into arrest but he was revived by the medical team.

Tom was in hospital for just over a week, including four days in intensive care. He underwent heart surgery and had four stents inserted.

Earlier this year Tom, area director for Jewson Builders Merchants, had a pacemaker fitted and is well on the way to recovery.

Eleven months after his cardiac arrest, Tom and Mary visited Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s operations centre in Devizes where they met Fred Thompson, one of the paramedics who treated him, and were shown round the helicopter.

Tom said: “The expertise of Fred and Rocky (Paul Rock, the other Wiltshire Air Ambulance paramedic who attended) undoubtedly saved my life. They made the decision to airlift me to Southampton, which was the right course of action.

“The speed of the helicopter in flying me there was also critical. Had I gone by land ambulance it would have taken about an hour and it’s likely that I would have arrested, which may have resulted in a different outcome.”

“Wiltshire Air Ambulance is crucial and what they do literally saves lives – I’m living testimony to that.”

To show her gratitude, Tom’s sister-in-law Diane Lonergan completed a cycle ride from Tom’s house in Marlborough to Heartbeat House, near Southampton General Hospital where Mary stayed while he was being treated, and raised £4,600 to be split between Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Wessex Heartbeat, which runs Heartbeat House.

The amount raised included a donation of £1,668.10 from Jewsons. The company has also supported air ambulances nationally through the proceeds of the Tour de Jewson Bike Ride in 2016.