A man was given 19 emergency electric shocks after he collapsed when his heart stopped for TWENTY minutes in a cinema – moments after watching JANE EYRE.
Roger Clifford, 61, suffered a massive cardiac arrest in the foyer on his way out of the cinema, after taking his wife Anna out on a date.
Quick-thinking off duty police officers PCs Emma Tandy and Kim Durrant used an emergency defibrillator and performed CPR to help keep him alive until paramedics arrived.
Retired engineer Roger, a grandfather, said: “If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here to see my grandson.
“Words cannot say how thankful I am to them. To be able to hold my grandson and spend time with him is just fantastic.”
Roger’s heart had to be shocked 19 times before it finally started beating again after he suffered the same heart condition suffered by ex-Bolton football ace Fabrice Muamba.
He was eventually rushed to hospital, where he had an ICD – Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator – fitted, which will shock his heart if it were to miss a beat again.
Roger and his wife had been on a date at Cineworld in Cheltenham, Glos., watching the latest film adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel.
Anna said: “I’ll never forget that day – but Roger can’t even remember what film we watched.
“It’s probably a good thing, I don’t think he enjoyed it very much.”
Roger and Anna are thankful to the heroine PCs, whose quick-thinking saved his life.
Anna, 57, said: “We are so grateful for what they did. He would have been a goner without them.
“His heart had stopped – they brought him back from the dead. Me and my family are so grateful to both officers.
“I call them my two angels because if it hadn’t been for Emma and Kim my husband would have died that night. I really can’t thank them enough.”
Footy ace Muamba sent the pair a letter and a picture, after they started a campaign to get emergency defibrillators installed at more public locations.
Florist Anna said: “In the letter, he wrote that he was very thankful for us to for raising money to pay for defibrillators.
“Cardiac arrests are common, but not commonly survived unless someone has the wherewithal to use a defibrillator.
“Usually only a couple of shocks are needed, but Roger’s heart needed 19 to come back to life. He’s always been a bit stubborn.”
Last month, Roger and Anna’s only child Penny, 29, gave birth to their first grandson, Archie.
The two cops are up for a Heart of Gloucestershire award for their heroics.
PC Tandy, with Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: “When you see him walking around you realise what we actually did.
“I do wonder what would have happened if we had not been there and whether or not anyone would have been able to step in.”
