14/02/2026
On Valentine's Day three years ago, Gwen carried out CPR on her now-husband Bob after he collapsed at home. Today she is sharing how the support she received from the Isle of Wight Ambulance Life After Cardiac Arrest (LACA) network helped her process what happened.
"It’s hard for people to understand that you watched your loved one die, but the LACA group showed me that I wasn’t alone." said Gwen.
For Guy, a survivor of cardiac arrest, it was the comfort of having a phone call after he left hospital to check in on him and his wife Carol that meant so much. He said, "It was nice to have a caring voice asking if we were ok."
Thanks to a successful bid by IOW NHS Trust Charity, the Isle of Wight Ambulance and 111 Service Small Island, Big Heart project is taking further action to help improve survival rates following cardiac arrest and support survivors, co-survivors and bystanders.
