An avid Albion fan said he could have died if it was not for the quick thinking of his partner and the “mammoth efforts” of paramedics when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Chris Geddes has now been able to personally thank the team who saved his life after he collapsed in front of them during the emergency at his home in Worthing on January 22 last year.

Chris’s partner of 30 years Lesley, who was a 999 call handler for Sussex Ambulance Service in the mid-90s, called NHS 111 as she was concerned about Chris when he woke up feeling unwell that morning.

With his only symptoms at the time being nausea, pain in his wrist and jaw and looking pale and grey, Chris, also 58, put it down to a sickness bug and his wrist hurting from their cat, Piglet, sleeping on his arm.

But Lesley, also 58, knew something was wrong and called for help.

“She was right this time,” said Chris, a self-employed planning consultant.

“I don’t remember what happened before or after, but I have no doubt I would have died without Lesley’s quick-thinking and the crews’ mammoth efforts.”

Chris Geddes hugging the team who saved his lifeChris Geddes hugging the team who saved his life (Image: South East Coast Ambulance Service)

Lesley, now a scheme housing officer, said: “He apologised to the call handler for wasting their time, then he suddenly didn’t feel at all well.”

Paramedic Kathryn Fox was undertaking some basic observations when Chris said he did not feel well and then collapsed in front of them all.

Kathryn said: “We were all taken a bit by surprised when he collapsed. It is the first time in my career that I’ve witnessed something like this.”

With Lesley pinned in the corner of the bedroom at the time, the team worked to get Chris back and with the support of others including critical care paramedics and the air ambulance they managed to restore a heart rhythm and get him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

With a stent fitted and a complete blockage of one of his main arteries removed, Chris was back home within ten days.

Apart from some short-term memory loss, Chris has been “pretty good”, Lesley said, and was back to work a week after leaving hospital and was straight down to the Amex to watch Brighton’s next game.

“When the paramedics got here, they were just amazing. Something like this makes you realise how fragile life is, it has made me much more aware of the people around me,” said Lesley.

The pair were delighted to meet Kathryn along with her colleagues, emergency care support worker Sheenagh Hughes and trainee associate ambulance practitioner Laura Mimms, again at Worthing Make Ready Centre on August 22.

“It feels good to be here today, I would start welling up if I started to say what I felt,” Chris said.