Man meets the ambulancecrew who helped save him

Lee Cottingham, from Lower Dicker, now aged 45, collapsed in farm buildings in Etchingham, in June 2015. He has gone on to make an amazing recovery and returned to work just four months later as a domestic assistant in a nursing home.

The reunion, which took place recently at the Trust’s Polegate Make Ready Centre, came about after a chance encounter at a local event where Lee met Heathfield Community First Responders.

The team was able to put him in touch with Hurst Green Community First Responder, Gary Spray, who was first to arrive at the scene of Lee’s collapse. Gary immediately began life-saving treatment, continuing the CPR administered by one of Lee’s friends, and used a defibrillator to restart his heart.

Lee was delighted to meet with the SECAmb team to thank them in person and said: “Words can’t describe how grateful I am to every single person who helped me. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone.

Gary said: “The feeling that you have made a difference to somebody’s life and family close to your community makes me proud to be able to hang up my suit from my day job and respond as a CFR.

“The words that stick with me following speaking to Lee is that he now has two birthdays, with his second being the day we gave him a second chance in life.”

Lee attended the reunion with fiancée Kaylie, who he’ll marry in August 2018.