Dad saved after suffering cardiac arrest at Hartlepool’s High Throston Golf Club

Brian Bates was “laughing and joking” and said he was in no pain when he suddenly collapsed at the town’s High Throston Golf Club earlier this month.

Thankfully the quick actions of Hartlepool man Jamie Barnecutt and community first responder David Cairns saved his life.

Jamie, 43, who lives at the golf course, spotted the situation from his window.

He said he had a “sneaky feeling” Brian might have had a heart attack and headed across the course in his car to begin giving Brian CPR.

In the meantime, Jamie’s nephew, Kai Cennell, 18, who also works at the club, dialled 999 for help.

Jamie, who owns a finance company, said: "I thought we need to get this guy back to life.

"His family and friends are over the moon, they’ve all thanked me.”

Meanwhile, community first responder David Cairns, 49, was off duty when he was alerted to the incident via the GoodSAM app and rushed to the golf course with a defibrillator.

"He was unconscious, he wasn’t breathing, he was in cardiac arrest,” said David, who is also co-founder of Hartlepool charity DS43 defibrillators.

"The bystander CPR has massively helped the situation.

"Jamie and the other golfers were great, they were fantastic, they were doing a great job when I arrived.”

An ambulance arrived shortly after and father-of-two Brian, from Eaglescliffe, was stabilised and taken to hospital.

Speaking to the Mail from hospital as he continued his recovery, Brian, 66, said: "I’ll be seeing Jamie and giving him a cuddle.”

He added: "The ambulance was there straight away.

"If it’s not for them people looking out the window, not for them people doing what they do well, I wouldn’t be here.

“A big thank you to the people who helped me. Jamie, the paramedics.”

Golf Club manager Kelly Barnecutt, 40, said the club plans to install a defibrillator following the incident.

Kelly, who is married to Jamie, said: "We have the defibrillator ordered and we have all members of staff and family members who want to join in and do a first aid course."

Jamie, who got first aid training while in the army, added: "If you have a little bit of training, even the basics of training, you could save somebody’s life.”

Brian is expected to return to the club to personally thank everyone after continuing his recovery at home.

A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "Bystander CPR is hugely important and performing CPR while our crews are travelling can be the difference between life and death.

“Cardiac arrest can strike anybody at any time in any place, and every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by 10%. As most cardiac arrests happen at home, knowing how to do CPR can help save lives.

“Our health advisors will often ask a caller to initiate CPR to give a patient the best chance of surviving.

"In the last year, we have supported over 17,600 people to do CPR over the phone. There are also steps everyone can take, from watching videos on the British Heart Foundation’s website to taking a first aid training course.”

For more information, go to www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr or www.neas.nhs.uk/get-involved/learning-zone/videos.aspx