A man whose heart stopped for eight minutes before a stranger resuscitated him with a nearby school's defibrillator was told he had a 1% chance of survival.
Steve Lyth, 61, from Ellesmere Port collapsed near his home last Tuesday (February 15) after his heart stopped.
Eight minutes later, after Niall Fitzgerald had "stumbled" upon the scene, Steve was revived and then taken to hospital.
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Steve has a history of heart disease - he had problems with atrial fibrillation and suffered two heart attacks before having a quadruple bypass around two and a half years ago.
As a result, he began cycling with friend Dave Bush twice a week in order to improve his fitness and general health.
The two were heading out on a ride last Tuesday (February 15) when Steve's heart failed.
Steve told the ECHO : "Dave was showing up to mine for our bike ride. We were leaving about an hour earlier than usual.
"He turned the corner, said 'good morning', I replied and then my brain basically said to me 'you're going'.
"It felt like somebody turning the lights out. Everything switched off. My Apple Watch showed that my heart went from 90 beats per minute to 129, almost like there was a genetic code which said fail and that’s what the heart did."
Still on his bike, Steve collapsed. Dave had to take him off it and began performing CPR.
As Dave began the process, Niall Fitzgerald was driving past. He noticed what was going on, got out of his car and headed towards them.
Steve's wife Gaynor said: "It was extremely lucky. Niall said he wouldn’t normally be going that way or pass at that time, but because there was a traffic jam on the main road, he diverted down and came down our road.
"He came and asked if everything was alright. He took one look at Dave's face and knew that something was wrong. He took over."
Niall, who has 20 years of first aid experience, performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Steve and three rounds of chest compressions before a defibrillator was brought out from Christ Church CofE Primary School, located just 50 yards from where Steve had collapsed.
Three charges from the defibrillator managed to revive Steve, bringing him back around eight minutes after his heart had stopped.
An air ambulance attended the scene, but was not used. Steve was stabilised by emergency service staff and then taken to Countess of Chester hospital.
He was subsequently transferred to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital in Broadgreen, where he had previously had heart procedures.
Steve remained in hospital until Friday (February 18), in order to have a dual implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) fitted.
The ICD acts as a pacemaker and is designed to regulate Steve's heartbeat as well as sending a larger electrical shock to the heart that essentially "reboots" it to get it pumping again, if required.
Understandably, the day that his heart stopped is a blur for Steve.
He said: "That Tuesday is very hazy. I remember briefly being awake in the ambulance at the scene. I didn’t know what had gone on.
"I remember being at Countess with my son on my left-hand side of me and Gaynor on the right-hand side of me. That's it."
The incident has come as a shock to the system, but Steve feels very lucky to be alive.
He said that the manner in which events aligned - his bike ride taking place an hour earlier than usual, Niall facing delays and having to divert via their road, the school being able to bring out a defibrillator - only exacerbates such a feeling.
Steve added: "Niall was told by the ambulance crew that, because I’ve had my previous bypass, there was a 1% chance of resuscitation.
" For me to survive, every single piece of that jigsaw - the time, the people, the equipment - it all had to be there in a matter of minutes and it was.
"Anywhere else and I’m gone, anyone else and I’m gone, without the equipment, I’m gone. "
"Look at it any which way you want, but it is a miracle."
The ECHO spoke to Niall about his central part in the process to revive Steve.
He said: "I was running later and there was quite heavy traffic, so I decided to go down another route and that’s when I stumbled upon him”
"I’ve been doing first aid for 20-odd years and I’d just done a refresher.
"The stars were aligned that day. It was a mad event and I'm just happy to see him alive."
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