A Christchurch first aid teacher says he feels lucky to be celebrating Christmas with his family this year after he suffered a heart attack just before leading a CPR class.
Marcel Nelson's students rushed to the 33-year-old's aid in October when he suddenly collapsed, with both his students and paramedics working on him for 80 minutes and giving him 14 shocks before being admitted to Christchurch Hospital.
He recently had the opportunity to reunite with medical staff and students to share his gratitude.
Nelson said he was "very, very, very lucky" to survive the cardiac event.
"The statistics actually say that only 11% of patients make it post-30 days in an out of hospital cardiac arrest, so, I'm part of that 11%."
He had been just about to teach a first aid refresher class to a group of Scouts when he had the heart attack.
"I know that I went into cardiac arrest, but I don't remember. I remember most of the day before the arrest... and then that's when memory cuts off," he said.
But Josh Partridge remembers, he was about to take part in Nelson's class.
"He was there sitting up and the next minute he goes, 'Oh!' and turns around and falls down on his face and we all looked at each other thinking, 'what's going on?'," he told 1News.
At first he thought it was a scenario to test the class, but he quickly realised it was no test.
"I pointed to another guy, called the ambulance and then, yeah, it was all CPR and go from there."
Medical staff said early intervention was key to Nelson's survival.
"The big thing about CPR when you do it early is you keep the blood flowing, and you keep oxygen going to your vital organs." said Christchurch Hospital ICU associate clinical nurse manager Ali Just.
"That's really important when you're looking at, for Marcel in particular, he is who he was before it happened, and if he didn't have that early CPR, he could be dead, and early defibrillation for Marcel was what saved his life."
Nelson ended up spending more than three weeks in hospital and said it was an emotional experience to return to the ICU.
"I looked at it, and even though it's not exactly the same bed I was in, it’s kind of little flashes in there. So, a little bit emotional, not exactly triggering as such, but I wouldn't want to be there again.
"It gives me a great appreciation for where I am right now, and the second gift I've been given... home for Christmas, home with my family."
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