In the early hours of 18 October 2023, Wendy Gausden woke to her husband Ian making distressing sounds. He was in cardiac arrest. With no prior heart conditions and no warning, Ian’s life depended on what happened next.
This film tells Wendy and Ian’s story — a powerful, first‑hand account of an out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest, where every second matters. Guided by a 999 call handler, Wendy performed CPR alone for 18 minutes, keeping Ian’s brain alive until help arrived.
The crew from East Anglian Air Ambulance — Dr Toby and Critical Care Paramedic Luke — were tasked by air, bringing hospital‑level critical care directly to Ian’s side. The crew carried out advanced, lifesaving interventions including mechanical CPR, emergency ventilation, ultrasound diagnostics and two emergency Thoracostomys on Ian's chest before flying him to hospital in a critical condition.
Against the odds — with survival rates for out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest at around 8% — Ian survived. He went on to have triple bypass surgery and made a remarkable recovery, with no lasting impairment.
The film and campaign were created to show that survival is not down to chance alone, but to a chain of survival: early recognition, immediate CPR, rapid emergency response and specialist critical care. By sharing a deeply human story, the film raises awareness of critical medical emergencies that can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time, and highlights the vital role of why charities like East Anglian Air Ambulance, funded almost entirely by the generosity of supporters, are essential in giving people the best possible chance of survival.
We care deeply about the work we do and the people we help. And we do more than you might think; providing aftercare, community lifesaving training and undertaking clinical research too. We rely almost entirely on public donations to do our work and don’t receive regular government funding.
Fuelled by supporter donations, we partner with the ambulance service across the most serious of incidents including road traffic collisions, cardiac arrests and other medical emergencies. When someone needs us, it’s usually the worst moment of their life, and their family’s. That’s why our specialist doctors, critical care paramedics and pilots bring the advanced skills, equipment and medicine directly to the patient’s side in the fastest time possible, providing care normally only found in a specialist emergency department. The equipment carried by our helicopters and critical care cars enables enhanced care at the incident scene – when the patient needs it most – such as blood transfusions, advanced pain relief, sedation and anaesthesia, and surgical interventions.
This, combined with quick onward transfer to the most appropriate hospital, gives every patient the best possible chance of surviving and recovering a life-threatening emergency.
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
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