'I had a cardiac arrest and died for 45 minutes, but I had to come back'

A fit and healthy dad 'died for 45 minutes' after having a cardiac arrest while doing the gardening - but went on to make a full recovery. Steve Dalton, 64, was helping his daughter Kate, 29, build a play area in her garden when he suddenly collapsed and had a seizure.

His son, Sam, 40, sprang into action and carried out CPR until paramedics arrived eight minutes later. The 64-year-old was treated in the ambulance for three hours and 'died for 45 minutes'. At the hospital, the dad-of-seven was put in a coma and his children and siblings gathered at his bedside to say goodbye.

Medics warned he only had a two per cent chance of survival and that if he did wake up, he’d likely be brain damaged due to lack of oxygen. But the manufacturing company director did wake up - and was even talking just two days later.

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“The last thing I remember is being in the garden then I woke up two and a half days later,” said Steve, from Colchester, Essex. “Sam is my hero - I’ll have to put his pocket money up because if he wasn’t there, the outcome would be very different now. I was in a coma but then I came to and there was a bit of euphoria because you’ve survived.

“I’m not someone who dwells on things so after a week I was ready to go and carry on. I feel lucky to be here. I have to be around. I've got seven children and 17 grandchildren. I can't afford to go.”

Steve had been digging out concrete using a pickaxe from 9am. At 4pm, his daughter Kate spotted something was wrong.

She said: “I was watching out of the window and he looked quite unwell. I ran outside and he started having a seizure so my husband phoned the ambulance. I was panicking, it was horrific, and there are no words to explain how scary it is.

“Dad sat up, pointed at me and said he was alright, then had another seizure. He went completely blue from the chest up including his head and ears. My brother gave him CPR. He’s had no medical training, he’s just seen it in films and he went for it.

“I broke down. It was the longest eight minutes of our lives. It was insane.”

Kate and mum Lindy, 65, knelt down and prayed that Steve would be ok - despite not being religious. Kate said: “I was saying to my husband ‘we’ve done this, we’ve killed him’. He died for 45 minutes and had to be shocked six times. I had to call my sister and said ‘dad’s dead'.

“We were sure he was gone and I can’t describe how it felt. There isn't a single pain like it. I’ve never had a loss and my dad truly is my best friend in the world.”

At the hospital, doctors said Steve had suffered a cardiac arrest, his heart was really enlarged and it was unlikely to back down to normal size. Kate said: “I screamed ‘you’re wrong, you don't know my dad'. I was furious that this man who didn't even know my dad said he wouldn't survive.

“They said we needed to say goodbye. You can’t comprehend how painful it is until it happens to you. We grieved him. He looked dead and he was cold. We tried to talk to him and said we loved him, we were proud of him and asked him to come back.

“That night was the worst of our entire lives. Me and my mum held each other and took it in turns to cry. She didn't want to go back to the house without him.

“She froze over, she was beside herself because she’d lost her husband. We were waiting for a phonecall saying we needed to go to the hospital and every time the phone went our hearts sank.”

Steve said the thought of his family going through it “is horrible”. He said: “I died for 45 minutes, they got all the family to say goodbye to me. It’s awful and devastating.“

The next morning, Kate and accountant assistant Lindy received a phonecall from a nurse saying that Steve was trying to wake up.

They rushed to the hospital and doctors decided to try to bring him out of his coma. Kate said: “They reduced his sedation and literally as she pressed the button, his eyes pinged open.

“I asked him if he knew who I was and he nodded. It was unreal. He was put back into a coma because he became unwell again. The day after, we got a phonecall from the hospital and the nurse’s voice sounded negative.

“Then she said ‘hold on’ and the next voice was my dad’s saying hello to my mum. We jumped up and down. We were so overwhelmed. We went to see him, he was sat up, no breathing tube, and no ounce of brain damage.”

Steve spent two weeks in hospital and has had an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator fitted. He was back at work just one week after being discharged. Kate threw a “recovery” party for her “best friend and hero” dad.

She said: “He’s brilliant. Dad is so grateful to be here and has a whole new lease of life. He says ‘I died’ and he felt so guilty that he put us through that but obviously we don't blame him.”

The family have set up a fundraising page for SCA UK, a peer support organisation dedicated to helping improve the lives of those who survive a cardiac arrest. They also want to help raise awareness of the early signs of a cardiac arrest.

Kate said: “A seizure isn't the first thing you think of when someone is having a heart issue. We thought he was dehydrated or had worked too hard. He was also doing agonal breathing which is long drawn out breaths but we didn’t know that’s not actually breathing.

“It’s really important to know the early signs of cardiac arrest and when CPR is needed.”

Steve added: “Knowing CPR and when to respond quickly can save so many lives. Everything happened quickly for me, Sam acted quickly, the paramedics were there quickly and the doctors and nurses were incredible.”