THE IRISH SUN
20 September 2012
Sarah Arnold
TEENAGER LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
I died FOUR times when my heart stopped … just like Fabrice Muamba’s
As pretty Chloe Whitehouse smiles for the camera, she looks just like any other happy, healthy 18-year-old.
Yet six weeks ago hairdressing apprentice Chloe “died” four times, after her heart suddenly stopped as she tidied her bedroom.
She suffered the same type of cardiac arrest as footballer Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed during Bolton’s FA Cup tie with Tottenham in March.
Fortunately, her life was saved, thanks to her quick-thinking dad Peter who had learned CPR skills more than 40 years ago.
Peter said: “It was a horrifying moment. I heard a thud then my wife Heather screamed.
“I rushed upstairs to see Chloe collapsed in her bedroom. She was making a deep throated gurgling noise and as I rushed to lift my beautiful daughter, her eyes had rolled back into her head.
“She was turning blue. And I thought, “She’s gone”.
“My adrenalin was at an all-time high. I was on automatic pilot. I didn’t even have time to panic. I just focused on the thought; ‘I’ve got to save her.’
“Survival instinct kicked in and I remembered the CPR skills I’d learned all those years ago at Boy’s Brigade”.
Peter, 52 who runs a car parts company, had been watching the final of the football European Championship on TV at the family home in Sedgley, in the English West Midlands, when his world turned upside down on July 1.
He said: “After taking in the horrifying scene for a split second, my CPR training kicked in. I started giving 30 compressions on her chest to each two breaths.”
“Heather called 999 and put the operator on loudspeaker. They encouraged me by calming me and telling me to keep going as I was doing the right thing.”
“My mind was racing. I was just trying to do my best, knowing that every second could make a difference.”
SHOCKS
“I KEPT PRESSING Chloe’s chest till the ambulance men arrived, then I stepped back as they had a defibrillator. I knew then she was in safe hands but Heather and I felt so helpless – it was a desperate few moments.
“They gave her four electric shocks to bring her back. Each time there would be a heartbeat or two but then there was nothing. She’d slip away again.
“I held Chloe’s hand saying, ‘Come on, Chloe, come back to us.’ After the third attempt the doctor paused and said, ‘Is there any heartbeat?’
“I thought they were going to stop. I was going to scream: “There’s no way you are stopping.” But thank heavens I didn’t need to. They decided to give it one more go.
And after the fourth shock, they got a heartbeat. We cried with relief.
But Chloe was far from out of the woods. She spent ten days in critical care at a Birmingham hospital – seven of them in a medically-induced coma.
Peter said: “A doctor told us it was touch and go. I felt my world start to crumble but had to keep it together. When we finally saw Chloe she was on life support.
“There were so many tubes, heart monitors, ventilators keeping her alive I almost didn’t recognize her.
In the following days, the couple and their other children Luke, 25 and Lucy, 22 barely left Chloe’s bedside.
Peter said: “I was beating myself up, not knowing if I’d done enough to save my little girl. We didn’t know if she would be brain damaged or come out of it at all.
“It was the darkest moment of our life without a shadow of a doubt”.
The first sign of hope came 48 hours after Chloe collapsed.
Mum Heather, 49, who works for the local Council said: “We were talking to her saying, ‘Chloe you’ll be all right.’ And she nodded her head.
“It was such a relief she understood us but we didn’t know how much of our daughter we would get back if she pulled through.
“We didn’t even know if she would know who we were.
“A few days later she flickered her eyes.” But it took three attempts to bring Chloe out of her coma.
Heather said: “That took us from elation to desperation. The first two times she was so confused they had to put her back under as her heart rate soared dangerously.
“But on the third attempt Chloe came back to us. She recognized us straight away. Then she started to mouth a few words, although she couldn’t speak because of the tubes. After a few hours they took the tube out – and she began to talk.
“At first her short-term memory was quite vague. That’s one of the side-effects with stopping breathing.
“But over the next few days she rapidly improved. The relief was just indescribable.
“She had so many tests, including an MRI, but she was so incredibly brave.”
Chloe made such a remarkable recovery that after ten days she was moved to the coronary care ward.
Heather added: “They established that her heart had simply stopped.”
“Despite all the testes, they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. The medics are left scratching their heads in cases like this.”
“They explained the electrical system around her heart probably went into a spasm and that induced the cardiac arrest. In some ways it’s reassuring, but of course you fear it is a ticking time bomb.
“She had a tiny defibrillator fitted as a safeguard. So if in the unlikely event it happens again that will knock her into a normal rhythm again.”
The device delivers an electric shock that will hopefully interrupt an irregular heartbeat causing a cardiac arrest, giving the heart a chance to establish a more regular rhythm.
Heather said: “The nurse said it’s like house insurance, just in case you get burgled. It’s there, just in case it happens again.”
Soccer star Muamba, 24 dropped like a stone with the same condition during an FA cup match.
He also made a stunning recovery after being fitted with a tiny defibrillator and left hospital a month later. The Bolton midfielder has since retired from football. Peter said: “I remember watching when it happened to Muamba and thinking it was awful. But little did we know that just weeks down the line we’d be in the same situation.”
The hour long operation to fit Chloe’s mini defibrillator took place on July 16. And she was well enough to be discharged the next day.
Heather said: “ We’ve got our daughter back. She’s so lucky. It’s a miracle to be honest.”
“She’s never been ill, apart from the odd cold. She is just a normal, healthy 18 year old.”
Chloe also feels lucky to be alive. She said “The last thing I remember was handing some of my things to my mum, and after that I can’t remember a thing.”
“I didn’t feel ill or anything. Then I woke up in hospital a week later.”
“It was very frightening. I was so shocked and I didn’t know what was going on at first. It was so weird, one minute tidying the room, the next waking up in hospital.”
“It doesn’t feel now like anything awful has happened. My life is back to normal again”.
“The only sign that anything happened at all is a little scar and I can also feel the defibrillator inside me”.
“But I know that’s part of me now and I’m dealing with it.”
Chloe and her family are now urging the British government to ensure that all children are given some basic CPR training, which could save someone later in life.
Chloe said: “It could save a loved one’s life. I’m going back to work and college in a few weeks. I just feel so grateful to be alive. I’m so grateful to my dad for saving my life. But if it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone”.
Her dad Peter is in no doubt that what he learned years ago is an important skill that should be passed on.
He said: “Learning CPR as a boy helped save my daughter all those years later.”
“It’s vital that schools and youth social groups teach these skills.”
“You never imagine something like this could happen to you but it does – and I was fortunate to have the knowledge to deal with it.”
• The Irish Heart Month National Roadshow is stopping at Athlone IT today and offering FREE blood pressure checks. Visit irisheart.ie to find out where the IHF red mobile van is heading in the coming weeks.
• There are dozens of organisations that offer training in “bystander” resuscitation methods. Visit the citizenpr.ie to find out more about CPR courses in your area.
MY VIEW
By Dr Natasha Stewart
Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation
As many as 600 young people die suddenly every year in the UK and Ireland, and often an inherited heart condition is the cause. It’s very important if someone in your family has been diagnosed with, or has died from, an inherited heart condition that you talk to your doctor to see if you need further investigation. It’s also important to learn emergency life support skills and how to use a defibrillator. If someone has a cardiac arrest, immediate CPR and defibrillation are vital to increase their chance of survival.
So if someone collapses and isn’t breathing normally, call 999 straight away. If you’re unsure about giving full CPR, including rescue breaths, then start hands-only CPR by pushing hard and fast in the centre of their chest to the rythym of Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees, until help arrives.
It’s also vital, if we want more success stores like Chloe’s that every young person becomes a potential life-saver by being taught emergency life support skills.