Runners who struck up friendship after recovering from cardiac arrests make donations to Cardiology Team

27 January 2021

Two runners who struck up a friendship after each recovering from a cardiac arrest have made donations to the Cardiology Team at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) to thank them for the treatment they received.

Peter Corr said the staff at the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford were “amazing in their care” while Martyn Bidgood says he could never thank the team enough for “saving his life”.

Both Peter and Martyn recovered and were able to resume running. Martyn, 66, from Kemberton, near Telford, has shared his experiences in a book called Cardiac Athletes. Now he has donated a copy to the Nurse who saved his life so the Cardiology Team can share it with other patients.

Through the Cardiology Team, Martyn was put in touch with Peter, 47, from Telford, and helped him in his return to running. Peter completed a half marathon in October, raising £500 for SaTH.

Martyn became unwell after returning home from a long weekend in Llandudno with his wife. After his condition became worse he was admitted to the PRH. It was there that he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Martyn said: “The staff explained to me that I had gone into cardiac arrest and that they had given me CPR and had used a defibrillator to stimulate my heart into beating again. I have no recollection of any of this and because there were no marks or bruises I could not really believe that it had happened.”

Martyn was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where he had two stents fitted.

He said: “On my release from Birmingham I was given a copy of the discharge letter that was sent to my GP. It clearly stated: ‘While on CCU at Telford, he had a syncopal episode with a VF arrest which required 30 seconds of CPR followed by a shock with ROSC (return of spontaneous circulation).’

“It was only at this point that I realised the staff at the Princess Royal Hospital had, indeed, performed those actions that saved my life. How can I ever thank them enough?”

The Nurse who shocked Martyn out of Ventricular Fibrillation was Sister Nicky Brierley, a Cardiac Assessment Specialist Nurse. Nicky is also a keen runner and she and Martyn struck up a friendship through their shared hobby.

Nicky said: “I was very proud to give Martyn his finish token at the Telford Park Run on the first anniversary of his cardiac arrest.”

And it was Nicky who put Martyn in touch with Peter after he also suffered a cardiac arrest.

Peter said: “I have been running marathons and half marathons for about 15 years and consider myself fairly healthy.

“In September 2019 I was running on my own at about 6.20am near my home in Trench, Telford, when I had a cardiac arrest. I don’t recall anything about it. My understanding is that five people all stopped to help me.

“I was clinically dead for 14 minutes before being revived by the ambulance crew. I was taken to PRH and admitted to the Coronary Care Unit, where I remained for nine days and had one stent fitted in to an artery.

“The ward staff were amazing in their care for not only myself but my wife, too. She was really traumatised by what had happened. They were there to listen, care, support, hold my hand and encourage me on the road to recovery.

“Once I was home I was recovering really quickly and was keen to get back to running. Martyn was an absolutely invaluable ally in giving me someone to run with which reassured my family and also someone I could share my experiences and frustrations with. He has become a true friend out of this and we run together when we can.

“I gradually increased distances with Martyn and then new found friends at Wrekin Road Runners.

“I had originally intended to run the Ironbridge Half Marathon in March 2020 to raise money for the CCU, but COVID put pay to that, as the race was cancelled in the first lockdown. I eventually got to run the Thoresby Half Marathon in October 2020, raising £500.”

Nicola said: “We are very grateful to Martyn and Peter for their donations and that we were able to help them both on the road to recovery and so that they could both continue running.”