Adam D’Arcy, 37, and partner Sharon Cooper, 47, saw their roles reversed when she suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this year (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
Adam D’Arcy thought his life changed completely when just two months after meeting his partner he was diagnosed with an incurable eye condition.
The 37-year-old is registered blind and had to give up work due to his retinitis pigmentosa, which means he has no peripheral vision and can only see straight ahead.
But Adam, who has been with partner and now carer Sharon Cooper for four years, told Metro.co.uk it was on January 16 this year when their roles dramatically reversed.
‘We all got up as normal on Sunday but Sharon said she felt strange so she took two indigestion tablets and went back to bed for two hours,’ he said.
‘We thought it could be the Chinese we’d eaten last night. She got up again around 11am and said although the pain was still there she wasn’t feeling as bad.’
He was making sandwiches for lunch at their home in Hipperholme, near Halifax, when Sharon, 47, ‘suddenly burst through the door and said something like, “Oh my God.”‘
‘Her eyes rolled back and she went to fall forwards,’ Adam added. ‘I was standing right by her though so I caught her and we fell to the ground together.
‘It was like she was having a seizure, her whole body was shaking and she wasn’t breathing properly – it sounded like she was snoring.’
He immediately sprung into action, called 999 and put Sharon on her back.
Adam was making sandwiches for lunch at their home in Hipperholme, near Halifax, when Sharon suddenly burst through the door and collapsed (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
He immediately sprung into action, called 999 and put Sharon on her back (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
‘The call handler said he believed she’d had a sudden cardiac arrest and I’d need to start doing CPR until the ambulance arrived,’ Adam, a former chef and sales worker, said.
‘I’d never had any CPR training but they told me what to do. Having no peripheral vision didn’t make it easy.
‘I had to really stare at Sharon’s chest, at the points where I was doing compressions to make sure it was in the right place and I was giving her mouth to mouth. My vision was blurred. It was chaos.’
He started panicking and the call handler told him bluntly: ‘Adam, if you don’t do this, there will be no more Sharon.’
‘I think it was a tactic to focus my mind and it worked,’ he said.
He said his ‘vision was blurred’ and had to really check what he was doing – but still managed to administer effective CPR to his partner (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
Symptoms of a cardiac arrest
According to the British Heart Foundation, a cardiac arrest usually happens without warning. If someone is in cardiac arrest, they collapse suddenly and:
Will be unconscious
Will be unresponsive
Won’t be breathing or breathing normally – not breathing normally may mean they’re making gasping noises
Without immediate treatment or medical attention, the person will die. If you see someone having a cardiac arrest, phone 999 immediately and start CPR.
You can use the charity’s free digital training tool to learn how to do CPR in 15 minutes here.
He carried out CPR for just over a minute before Sharon took a deep breath. Another minute later the ambulance arrived and used a defibrillator on her three times.
‘The second time her body literally lifted off the ground,’ he said. ‘I didn’t like it but they had no choice.’
Former funeral care worker Sharon was taken to the specialist heart unit at Leeds General Infirmary, and was put in an induced coma to reduce the damage to her heart and brain.
Medics believed her cardiac arrest was caused by high blood pressure – which she was on medication for – and Sharon soon after had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) fitted, a device which shocks the heart back into a regular rhythm if it suddenly stops.
Sharon pictured in hospital after surviving her cardiac arrest (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
Her scar after having an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator fitted (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
An A&E doctor had told Adam: ‘You brought her back before the paramedics got there. Without you doing CPR she wouldn’t have survived.’
Adam said he ‘never expected’ to be the one to help Sharon, explaining: ‘She is always the person who helps me.
‘She’s so strong, the head of the family, someone who can the boys can completely rely on – a real Mummy Bear character.
‘To us she is superwoman with superwoman powers, so me saving her was a real role reversal.
‘I’m so glad I was able to give Sharon CPR because I can’t imagine life without her, I love her so much. I see what I did as a general life thing that anyone would have done.’
Adam said he ‘couldn’t imagine life without her’ (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
Adam’s son Harvey, 9, pictured left and Sharon’s son Oliver, 11, pictured right (Picture: British Heart Foundation)
After staying in hospital for several weeks, Sharon returned home and has been slowly building back her health by taking short walks. She is also due to see a psychiatrist as it is thought she may have a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Adam, dad to nine-year-old Harvey, has now been nominated for a British Heart Foundation (BHF) CPR Heart Hero Award by his mum Teresa. The charity is partnering with Metro.co.uk for media coverage of its ceremony this year.
Sharon, mum to 11-year-old Oliver, said: ‘I’m just amazed that Adam was able to retain composure and act as quickly as he did to save my life. Without him I wouldn’t be here.
‘It was a very traumatic thing for him and the children to witness and I just feel lucky I survived. I sometimes still look back and think did that really happen.
‘Due to the situation with Covid we’ve had to cope with a lot of my recovery alone.
‘My physical strength has come back but I’ve struggled with my mental health. I think the psychology support will be key for me now. I’m getting there.
‘It takes time to come to terms with the fact that you used to be an active person but now it’s hard to climb the stairs. I’ve always been really independent and the whole experience has been quite isolating.
‘Adam has had to do everything for me despite his eye problems but through it all we’ve had each other. I think Adam truly deserves his award nomination. He didn’t just save my life – he’s been with me every step of the way.
‘Thanks to him I’m still a mum to my children, a sister and a daughter and still here to spend the rest of my life with him. Adam is my hero.’
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The British Heart Foundation Heart Hero Awards 2022
A BHF Heart Hero, with Metro.co.uk as its media partner this year, can be anyone from a healthcare professional doing exceptional work, to a young person living with heart disease that has shown incredible courage and determination, to an inspiring fundraiser who has found creative ways to help fund research.
Those shortlisted will be invited to an awards ceremony hosted by Vernon Kay in London on December 1, when the winners will be announced.
Judging of the categories is now complete with Scottish footballer Scott Allan and TV and radio presenter Will Njobvu among this year’s celebrity judges.
But the Young Heart Hero and CPR Hero categories remain open to nominations throughout the year.
The awards ceremony raises awareness of the continued need for funding for the pioneering research that is turning science fiction into reality, and providing hope for more than seven million people in the UK living with heart and circulatory conditions.
To find out more about the categories or to make a nomination, visit the British Heart Foundation website.
‘I had to really stare at her chest to make sure it was in the right place and my vision was blurred. It was chaos.’