Newbury man is reunited with the woman who saved him, one year after heart attack

A NEWBURY man reunited with the woman who saved his life to commemorate the one year anniversary of the event.

Stephen Seddon and Sue Tillen met up a year after Mr Seddon suffered a cardiac arrest near Fifth Road, Newbury, and Mrs Tillen rushed to give him lifesaving CPR.

Mr Seddon, 57, fell to the ground when taking his dogs for a walk at 8.30pm on June 30, 2020 and was found by Mrs Tillen, who gave him CPR for 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

He said: “To have survived at all is fantastic but to have survived with almost no ill effects is miraculous.

“I am hugely lucky that Sue walked by and I am so grateful to her.”

Mr Seddon, who runs Agleam Windows in Newbury, added that his staff rallied around him and he was hugely appreciative of their support.

Mrs Tillen, who is 54 and works in a preschool, said: “I am just very glad I had the training and could help him.

“You don’t really ever expect to do it and be in that position but my training just kicked in.”

Mr Seddon was taken to Basingstoke Hospital and put into a week-long coma, during which his family were warned several times that he may not survive the ordeal.

He has no recollection of what happened but has made a full recovery.

His daughter, Christine Mellett, added: “If Sue hadn’t been there at that time I don’t think my dad would be here today.

“We are just so grateful to her.”

Mr Seddon had a previous heart attack when aged 45 but had since ran half marathons and was fit and healthy.

He now plans to do the Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk in the near future.

According to the British Heart Foundation there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, with a survival rate of less than 1 in 10.