A routine morning work commute quickly turned into a life-or-death situation for an Auckland man who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on a bus and only survived thanks to the quick actions of strangers.
Ian had left home with no sign anything was wrong. But within the hour, he would be in the hospital undergoing emergency treatment.
While on a packed commuter bus travelling along Auckland's Tamaki Dr, passengers quickly realised something was seriously wrong when he became unresponsive and his breathing changed.
One passenger attempted to check on him while another called for help as the driver pulled the bus over. Several passengers then worked together to begin CPR.
One woman with previous volunteer fire service experience started chest compressions while another passenger called 111.
When the woman became fatigued, another passenger took over, continuing efforts to keep blood circulating until emergency services arrived.
Firefighters reached the scene within minutes of the incident in May 2024 and continued CPR on the side of the road before paramedics delivered a defibrillator shock and transported Ian to hospital.
He was placed in a medically induced coma as doctors worked to determined what has caused the collapse.
Major heart attack
Tests later revealed he had suffered a major heart attack that led to his life-threatening cardiac arrest.
"An ultrasound initially showed that my heart might only be functioning at 25% capacity," Ian told the NZ Heart Foundation.
"Blood tests showed that my troponin levels, a protein that indicates heart damage, were coming back at more than 4000 – the highest level in the ‘normal’ range should be less than 15."
What surprised doctors was that Ian did not present with obvious risk factors. He maintained an active lifestyle, attended regular health checks and had no known history of heart disease.
Further investigations from an angiogram found that he had three severely blocked coronary arteries, two of them completely obstructed, meaning he would require triple bypass surgery.
Ian regained consciousness 24 hours later with no memory of the collapse or the efforts to revive him.
He said he considered himself "exceptionally lucky" that the quick actions of strangers saved his life.
“I was told that to survive a cardiac arrest in the community, I would have a 10% chance of survival," he said.
"The fact I’m still here is in no small part down to the actions of the people on the bus that day, who stepped up and kept my heart going until help arrived."
Alanna, one of the bystanders who helped save Ian’s life, said the "awful" ordeal had changed the way she thought about heart health.
"It just shows that it can happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time. We can all afford to be more heart aware," she said.
'No such thing as bad CPR'
Hato Hone St John deputy chief executive of clinical services Jon Moores said it was important people understood the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest.
"Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating and we need to restart it," Moores told Breakfast yesterday.
"A heart attack is when there’s a reduction in blood flow to part of the heart. They’re different events, but a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest."
He said survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest relied heavily on early intervention from bystanders and members of the public.
"It’s a whole system of care, but everything starts with the bystander," he said. "If someone begins CPR straight away, that person’s chance of survival can increase by two.
"There’s no such thing as bad CPR. Push hard and fast in the centre of the chest and keep going until help arrives."
Moores said heart attack symptoms were not always dramatic or easy to spot.
"It’s not always the clutching of the chest," he said. "It can be jaw pain, indigestion, or just feeling generally unwell.
"It's really important that if you’re not feeling OK, call for help."
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