London Ambulance Service

A lifelong Tottenham Hotspur fan who had a cardiac arrest shortly after a tour of the stadium has met Spurs legend Ossie Ardiles in an emotional return to the football ground.

Bruno Bertoncini, 64, was having dinner with a friend following a tour of the team’s stadium in North London when his heart stopped beating and he collapsed, erasing all memory of the visit that day.

When Bruno was reunited with the paramedics who saved his life this month and revealed the loss of this cherished memory, London Ambulance Service reached out to the football club. They immediately offered another stadium tour but this time with an introduction to World Cup winner Ossie.

Bruno, who lives in South Tottenham, said: “This has been a really special day for me, particularly meeting Ossie as he’s a player I watched throughout his career. It was also very emotional coming back to do the tour – walking around I couldn’t remember anything from my previous visit.

“Now I have something even more special to remember.”

Ossie Ardiles said: “It was very nice for myself and the club to share this moment with him.

“The paramedics made the day very special as well. I spoke to Bruno throughout the day and he’s very grateful to the people who saved his life.”

Recently Bruno met the London Ambulance Service paramedics who saved his life at a reunion at Friern Barnet Ambulance Station.

Bruno added: “I really wanted to meet the crews and thank them. I can’t speak highly enough of them. Without them I wouldn’t be here today.

“Saying thank you can never be enough and I have nothing but admiration for the ambulance crews who saved my life that day.”

Emergency Medical Technician Gabi Villar, who was the first to arrive on scene with Paramedic Amber Muddle, said: “It was great to meet Bruno and see that he is doing so well. We rarely meet people who have survived a cardiac arrest.”

London Ambulance Service crews – including Gabi and Amber arrived in minutes to resuscitate Bruno using a defibrillator from the ambulance – a life-saving device that restarts the heart.

Last summer the London Ambulance Charity launched a ground-breaking fundraising campaign – known as London Heart Starters – to buy life-saving defibrillators for the communities where they are most needed and improve cardiac arrest survival rates.

Bruno is now donating to the campaign and encouraged Londoners to back the campaign and donate if they could spare money.

He added: “You never know when your loved one might need a defibrillator in a public place. It could make all the difference.”

Mark Faulkner, Consultant Paramedic and Associate Clinical Director at London Ambulance Service, said: “Bruno is very lucky to have survived thanks to the quick use of a defibrillator. These devices are incredibly easy to operate and people are nearly four times more likely to survive if they have one used on them in time.

“However, our own analysis has found there are large discrepancies between communities in outcomes for cardiac arrest and the availability of life-saving devices. This means that households in more deprived areas are more likely to be in greater need of additional defibrillators.

“If you’re in one of these priority neighbourhoods, please help your neighbours and loved ones by hosting or fundraising for a defibrillator in your community. You can also register to become a London Lifesaver and receive training in CPR and how to use a defibrillator.”

Daughters meet off-duty paramedic who saved their dad’s life after Spurs game

An off-duty paramedic who performed life-saving CPR on a fellow Tottenham Hotspur fan has met and been thanked by the patient’s daughters.

London Ambulance Service Paramedic Stefan Soler was returning home with a friend after a football match on 19 December when he heard voices calling for help on his train.

The calls for help grew more frantic and urgent, prompting Stefan to rush over to help. He found Keith Calnon slumped on a seat. With the help of an off-duty police officer, Stefan laid Keith on the floor to assess him.

Keith, 68, from Rochester, Kent, was in cardiac arrest so Stefan immediately began performing CPR – also known as chest compressions – and called out further instructions for others on the train. He asked passengers to call an ambulance, for someone to run and tell platform staff to stop the train and for someone to run and get the defibrillator at the station.

Two shocks were administered on Keith before he gained consciousness. As he came round, Keith was agitated and confused.

Other clinicians from London Ambulance Service arrived at the scene at Tottenham Hale station within a matter of minutes.

Once LAS were on scene, Stefan stepped back to allow the on-duty crews to take over and says it’s a moment he will never forget.

Stefan said: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, especially given it led to such a good outcome for Keith and his family, and happened at that time of year when we’re all coming together with our loved ones.”

The day’s circumstances brought back memories of when Stefan saw his own grandpa having a heart attack – the event that inspired him to become a paramedic.

He said: “I found my grandpa and called for help. The ambulance crew revived him and he lived for another 20 years or so. In that moment I remember feeling it was amazing how they had come and saved him – and I thought maybe one day I’d like to do that. That’s why I chose to pursue this career.

“So now it really is amazing to have this full circle moment – I get to be that clinician for someone else. It’s a very emotional experience.”

Keith’s daughters Amy and Kathryn met Stefan and Incident Response Officer (IRO) Peter Fisher at LAS HQ in Waterloo. Keith was unable to join them because he is still recovering from heart surgery just a few weeks ago.

Amy said: “It’s crazy to think how differently it might have ended. We’re so grateful to Stefan, the off-duty police officer, two off-duty nurses and the other emergency responders who all helped save our dad’s life.”

The sisters stressed how clearly it had shown to them the importance of learning how to do CPR.

Kathryn added: “Dad is an optimist but we can tell he realises how incredibly lucky he is to be here now and we cannot thank Stefan and the others enough for helping to save his life. It also makes us realise how important it is for everyone to know how to do CPR – even my daughters have been speaking about how to ‘pump, pump, pump’ a heart. They are too young to know how to do it properly but it shows how important it is.”

Peter said: “As clinicians we talk about the chain of survival – early recognition, early CPR, early defibrillator usage and early advanced care. In Keith’s case the stars really aligned and it proves how successful an outcome can be when CPR is started within seconds of cardiac arrest.”

Amy, Kathryn and Stefan were able to meet after a post was shared on the Tottenham Hotspur Facebook page. Hundreds of fans shared the post and eventually it was seen by IRO Peter Fisher who then asked Stefan if he would be happy to meet with them. All fans of the football club – they said they were touched by the kindness and compassion shown by the fans on that train and since.

Pauline Cranmer, Chief Paramedic at London Ambulance Service, said: “This amazing display of expertise and skill under trying circumstances shows how our paramedics are never really off-duty. Paramedics like Stefan join the Service because they have a drive to save lives – and that is not always confined to the times they are working.

“This positive outcome also shows how important it is to equip yourself with the life-saving skill of CPR. Early intervention can more than double someone’s chances of survival and both of these can be done by a member of the public before the ambulance service arrives.

“All you need to do is simply complete the online training on a smartphone or laptop and then you’re ready to help rescue someone in a life-threatening emergency.”

Find out more about how you equip yourself with these life-saving skills or undertake our London Lifesaver training here.