A PATIENT who "died for two minutes" after suffering a heart attack has thanked the paramedics who brought him back to life. 

Robert Penn, 61, started feeling pains at his home in Coggeshall and told his wife they needed to phone an ambulance.

Robert said: "It started at home to begin with. I'd just had something to eat in the afternoon and then the pain came when I went upstairs.

"I said to my wife that we needed to get an ambulance.

"The ambulance service turned up from Braintree and they gave me some medication to calm me down a little bit and they decided, because of the severity of my condition, that I was going straight to Basildon and not Colchester."

Basildon Hospital has a specialist cardiothoracic centre where patients who have suffered severe heart attacks are sent for treatment.

Robert said: "They put me in the ambulance and we went through Kelvedon and on to the A12.

"Then I had a heart attack and they pulled over into a garage so the crew member who was driving could get in the back and help."

The paramedics performed CPR and used a defibrillator to resuscitate Robert.

"I was dead for two minutes," he said.

"They brought me back to life."

Robert's youngest daughter Jade, 23, and eldest daughter Jazmine, 29, followed the ambulance to hospital, concerned for their father's life.

Doctors managed to stabilise his condition and he is now recovering at home. 

Robert continues to praise the paramedics for saving his life after his heart attack on June 15.

"They knew exactly how severe my potential heart attack was and then made a decision straight away about going to Basildon," he said.

"They were very professional and calmed the situation down and when I had the heart attack they really did look after me afterwards.

"I don’t think they get praised enough for what they go through.

"One of the ladies said they do a stressful job and the trouble is they don’t always get recognised.

"When it comes to serious things like this they never get told what happens to their patients."

Daughter Jazmine said it was a frightening situation and expressed her gratitude towards the professionals who saved her father. 

She said: "It was a very scary time for all of us - mostly me and my mum because we actually saw the start of it at home, and my mum was the one who actually saw my dad go into cardiac arrest in the back of the ambulance.

"He was talking to her one minute and then he just went silent."

She added: "There was another ambulance as a back-up behind them and when me and my sister arrived there was another emergency vehicle and the air ambulance had been called.

"He received great medical care from both the paramedics and the doctors at the hospital. I can’t fault them at all."

Robert's wife, Kim, 54, also thanked the emergency services for their amazing work.

She said: "It was a bit of a shock for all concerned while it was happening.

"I can’t fault them from start to finish. They were very prompt and very professional. The outcome was fantastic for us as a family."

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: "We are delighted to hear that Mr Penn has made a good recovery, and will pass on his thanks to the crew.

"This highlights the importance of dialling 999 as soon as serious symptoms develop, as this enabled us to get to Mr Penn quickly and be there to respond when his condition deteriorated."