A St John’s man has spoken of how one minute he thought he had indigestion but half an hour later he was clinically dead.

After getting worse Paul Chappell, 54, was dropped off at Noble’s Hospital and collapsed a short time later. He had suffered a heart attack and had to be resuscitated by defibrillator.

But that was only a short-term fix. He needed specialist treatment at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and was taken there by Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

Paul is now telling his story three years on from his cardiac arrest in a bid to thank the GNAAS which only began patient transfers from the island to the UK the year before.

‘I woke up that morning around 5.45am and I felt 100%, he said. ‘I was at work for 6.30am as I am a finance director for a construction company in a small office of about only three or four.

‘At around 9am I felt pressure in the centre of my chest and put it down to indigestion.

He braved it another ten minutes of pain before starting to pace the office floor before being taken to Noble’s Hospital.

Upon arrival at hospital, Paul was taken immediately to a resus area, put on a bed, hooked up to a machine and told he was having a heart attack.

‘I was completely shocked when they told me this,’ he said, ‘as I have never been in hospital in my life, and I would consider myself fairly fit and healthy.

‘By 9.25am, I had had morphine and that’s when I began to panic and tried to stand up to leave hospital then it all went dark…I had gone into cardiac arrest.

‘I was fine at 9am and by 9.30am I was dead.

‘I was then wheeled into a room and told I was going to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital by urgent transfer and that the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) was coming to take me there by helicopter.

By 4pm, he had been to theatre for two stents fitted and was back on the intensive care ward.

GNAAS launched its direct transfer service in 2022 of patients from the Isle of Man to trauma or other specialist centres in the North West so they can receive off-Island treatment in the shortest time possible.

The helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) operates alongside the island’s existing fixed-wing air ambulance service.

Paul said: ‘The GNAAS team was excellent. They kept putting their thumbs up to make sure I was feeling ok and kept me calm then lifted me slightly so I could see out of the window.

‘I don’t like helicopters, but I felt safe with the crew that day – they are brilliant.

‘Thanks for saving my life.’

Paul has since made a full recovery, and although he is on medication, he has been fully discharged by his cardiology consultant.

He said: ‘I lead a happy and healthier lifestyle and got married in 2024 to my partner, who was with me at the time of my cardiac arrest, so I am truly living and making the most of my second chance at life.’