My name is Paul Swindell and I am a survivor of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), having collapsed at my home in 2014, I was taken to the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre where I received world class cardiac arrest care. Sudden cardiac arrest is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. If this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. SCA usually causes death if it is not treated within minutes. In England, of the 30,000 cases that the ambulance services attend each year, only ~8% survive

In 2015 I set up Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK a peer to peer support group for survivors and their lifesavers across the UK.

The Essex Heart Fund has supported the group to grow from a handful of members meeting in a pub to holding events attended by hundreds in just a few years. A highlight being the creation of a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of cardiac arrest survivors in one place (127) in 2018 at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre. This day was not only special for bringing survivors together but also for the educational conference that went alongside. This was extremely well received by the attendees and would not have been such a success without the dedication and help of the team at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre, who hosted the day.