'I started to feel breathless, leant against a post and collapsed - I wouldn't have survived anywhere else'
14.02.2023 - 10:45
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Susan Wilson was walking past the hospital where she worked when something shocking happened. The cleaner started to feel breathless, leant against a post, and that's the last thing she remembered.
At just 62-years-old, Susan had suffered an unexpected heart attack outside of North Manchester General Hospital just before the start of her shift. She was spotted by a builder and, luckily, another NHS worker - the chance meeting saved her life.
Warren Millington is an HR manager at the hospital but started his career as an A&E nurse. Warren had just been passing and was able to resuscitate Susan with CPR.
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Susan, from Prestwich, came around after 60 seconds. The next thing she remembered was Warren saying, “I’m putting you into the recovery position”.
“That was the week we should have been going to Greece,” Susan said. She and her husband, Nick, have been trying to celebrate their 30-year anniversary together with a holiday abroad since the Covid pandemic hit in 2019.
“In a way, I’m grateful it happened when it did. I wouldn’t have survived if it happened on holiday. I was transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital and that’s the best for hearts. I couldn’t have had anyone better.”
Many of us start the year with the drive to make the most out of life but for Susan Wilson, a hospital cleaner from North Manchester General Hospital, her near death experience last year has made this even more pressing.
The North West Heart Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital is one of the UK’s top cardiac centres, providing specialist cardiac services to 3.2 million people.
The surgeon there who performed a heart operation on Susan came to tell her