‘I saved my dad’s life with CPR, I learned two weeks earlier on work first aid course – he’s grateful I knew what to do'

A woman who saved her father’s life with CPR after his sudden cardiac arrest aged 52 said she had learnt the skill two weeks earlier at a workplace first aid course, which she signed up for to “impress” her manager in a new job.

Douaa Sultan, 24, an insurance broker living in Bedfordshire, rushed outside when her father, Hussam, 54, a banking executive, suffered a heart attack just before he was about to shovel soil in his front garden on Sunday September 1, 2024.

Their neighbour was already on the scene and on the phone to emergency services, when Douaa said she was “overtaken by adrenaline” and started performing her newly-acquired CPR skill.

Within 25 minutes of Hussam’s cardiac arrest, three ambulances and one helicopter arrived to take over his urgent medical care, and he was taken to hospital.

Hussam was put into an induced coma. He woke up on Tuesday September 3 to discover he had a broken rib from the CPR and a head injury from hitting the ground when he collapsed.

He said his memory of this time is “very weak” but when he found out what his daughter had done to keep him alive, he said he was “deeply grateful” for her “bravery”.

Hussam told PA Real Life: “I’m sharing this (story) as an appreciation to (Douaa) for what she’s gone through.

“I’m deeply grateful to her for her bravery… and to St John Ambulance for what they do for humanity.”

Douaa started a new job in insurance at the start of summer 2024 when she was “fresh out of university” and said she wanted to “gain more skills” to “impress” her manager.

When the opportunity to do a St John Ambulance first aid training course came up, she said she was initially “hesitant” because the office already seemed to have some first aid trainers.

At the insistence of her line manager – who was “very encouraging” – Douaa said she signed up and did the two-day course in mid-August 2024.

Douaa said she learned “how to wrap bandages if anyone was to break a bone” to try to stop any bleeding, and the acronym DR ABC – meaning checking for danger, try to get a response, then check airways, breathing and circulation – as well as how to perform CPR.

Douaa said: “I remember very vividly at the end of the training, my trainer at the time goes, ‘I hope you’ll never have to use the CPR, but it’s good to have’.”

Two weeks later, on Sunday September 1, Hussam said he went to the gym early that morning but skipped breakfast, and remembered he pushed himself “hard” and it was a “very hot” day.

Hussam said he remembers looking down at the heart rate tracker on the treadmill and seeing that his heart rate reached 169 beats per minute.

For a man of 52, this exceeds the maximum recommended heart rate of 168, according to the British Heart Foundation’s calculator.

On the drive home, Hussam stopped to pick up breakfast for his family and some landscaping supplies, dropped them at home and then went outside to begin some landscaping work.

Hussam said: “The last thing I remember is closing the door behind me… then that’s it.”

A neighbour spotted Hussam dropping to the floor, ran over, called emergency services and shouted for help.

Douaa said she and her mother “very distinctively” heard someone screaming for help, but they assumed it might just be a child who had fallen off their bike.

She said: “So then we go out to the front door, and it’s my dad on the floor, and our neighbour with him.

“I think I was just completely overtaken by adrenaline and I didn’t feel anything… but I locked in.

“You’re face down over the body, and you know what you have to do.

“It’s hard, and it’s even harder when it’s your dad,” she said.

Douaa said she remembers “begging the ambulance to please hurry” and that time felt “very distorted”, but she “just kept going” with the chest compressions.

At one point, she heard the sound of her dad’s ribs cracking, which she said was “horrible” but she knew she had to “do whatever it takes to try and save a life”.

When three ambulances and a helicopter arrived within 25 minutes of Hussam’s cardiac arrest, they took over his life-saving care and Douaa said she “walked away to the side and had a little cry”.

Hussam was taken to hospital, where Douaa said there were “very difficult conversations” because they did not know what his state would be when he woke up.

Douaa said: “It very much depended on how well I performed the CPR because that would have determined how much oxygen remained in the bloodstream to get to the brain.”

According to the British Heart Foundation, fewer than one in 10 people in the UK survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Hussam said he was put in an “induced sleep”, and when he woke, the “biggest relief”, Douaa said, was her father being able to answer questions like what the year was and when his anniversary was, because it meant his cognitive function was intact.

“That was a big moment,” she added.

After an MRI and a full check-up, Hussam was discharged from hospital 11 days after arriving and said he was “well supported” by his wife, Boutaina, as well as Douaa and his younger daughter, Israa, 22.

Hussam learnt that his family history means that he is “high risk” of heart issues, as his father and older brother both needed cardiac operations in their 50s – even though he regularly went to the gym, is not diabetic, and does not smoke or drink alcohol.

He was encouraged to change his diet, reduce stress, and drink more water.

Six months after her husband’s cardiac arrest, Boutaina did first aid training too.

Douaa said: “It’s a skill that you have for life.

“I want everyone to go and sign up… because how often do you do first aid training and then actually save a life?”

Hussam said he was “deeply grateful” to his daughter for saving his life, adding: “I recognise how lucky I was and I’m grateful.

“Every time I see an ambulance, even if I’m in the car by myself, I salute them, because these people save lives.”