'I asked my wife if I was going to die': Dad was shocked 16 times after his heart stopped at home

But moments after he arrived back home he collapsed on the ground, lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest.

His wife Teresa, 38, only realised what happened when she heard a loud bang in her home while upstairs making a phone call, and was horrified to find her husband 'making a strange gasping, grunting noise' on the ground.

Quick-thinking teacher Teresa raced to her neighbour's house for help - who is a retired community first responder - and between them did CPR on Richard until the first ambulance arrived, which got to the scene just a few minutes after they were called.

Richard was then rushed to hospital for immediate life-saving assistance, was put into an induced coma and spent three days in the ICU and 11 days on a cardiac ward.

He was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome and has had a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) implanted.

The lucky dad made a full recovery before being discharged, and earlier this week met the talented ambulance staff who saved his life, and prevented his son from growing up without a father.

Richard, 38, who works as a carer, said: “The last thing I remember is dropping Lucas off at nursery and walking through the front door at home. I apparently had a sausage sandwich and a conversation with my wife Teresa too before I collapsed but I don’t remember any of it.”

Teresa, who was unusually at home on the day and would normally have been at work, said: “I was upstairs on the phone when I heard a strange noise from Rich downstairs. I went down and found him collapsed on the sofa making a strange gasping, grunting noise. I got straight onto the ambulance service and the call assessor asked if I was alone, which I was, then told me to start CPR.”

Stafford-based paramedic, Daisy Morrell, was part of the first ambulance crew who responded to Richard and arrived on scene to find him in cardiac arrest. She said: “Teresa was doing very good CPR on her husband. We quickly took over to commence advanced life support and radioed control to request an additional crew and air ambulance support.

"Between the whole team on scene, we administered 16 shocks to Mr Ward and utilised a LUCAS device to continue mechanical chest compressions. Thankfully we managed to restart Mr Ward’s heart at his home before we took him to New Cross Hospital on blue lights for further care.”

Richard was put into an induced coma and spent three days in an ICU then 11 days on a cardiac ward before being discharged home.

Daisy continued: “I’ve worked for the service for five years and this is the first time a patient has fully recovered from a cardiac arrest and left hospital. It was really lovely to see Richard and his family. His story is the perfect example of how important early CPR is to a positive outcome and I’d encourage everyone to learn this life-saving skill as you never know who will need your help.”

Richard said: “Someone was definitely watching over me as it all fell into place that day. I feel incredibly lucky too that a device with the same name as my son helped to save my life!

"I’m very thankful to you all for what you did for me, thank you for saving my life. I wish everyone would learn CPR, it takes 15 minutes to learn and it could save a life.”