Milton Keynes woman who died for several minutes during pregnancy thanks paramedic for saving two lives

Kelley Evans gave birth to bouncing baby girl Ava on Friday.

Yet four months ago the young mum suffered a near fatal cardiac arrest while alone with husband Gareth at their Great Holm home.

It was only the prompt and calm action of a paramedic called Stephanie that brought her back to life after her heart stopped beating.

Unbeknown to Kelley, she had a congenital problem called Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome, an extra electrical connection that causes the heart to beat abnormally.

Kelley had a “funny turn” when she was 23 weeks pregnant and asked her husband to call an ambulance.

Stephanie arrived in a fast response car, performed an ECG and immediately realised Kelley was about to go into critical cardiac arrest.

“She remained completely calm and called for urgent back-up without even changing tone. She also knew, it turned out, that no ambulance was available,” said Kelley.

Suddenly her heart stopped beating.

“She just completely flat-lined. It was terrifying,” said Gareth.

“Stephanie stayed super calm and just said she needed my help.”

Stephanie used a defibrillator to send an electric shock to Kelley’s heart. At the same time she instructed Gareth how to perform chest pumps.

Three to four minutes later Stephanie came back to life. She was rushed to hospital where her condition was stabilised. Surgery to fix her heart was performed just two weeks before her due date.

Ava weighed in at 8lb14oz, showing no sign of the ordeal her mum had suffered. Kelley and Gareth are now hoping she gets to meet life-saver paramedic Stephanie.

Gareth said: “We want to say a huge thank you to Stephanie for saving the life of my wife and our unborn baby. Without her I could have lost both of them, and our young son Bob, who is two, would be without a mummy.”