Patient hours from death thanks hospital staff for saving his life
Patient John Catt has thanked staff at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) for saving his life following a bleed on the brain.
The 73-year-old was rushed to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) for emergency surgery after he collapsed at home.
John thanked staff, in particular the neuro trauma team at QMC, for saving his life. He said: “If they hadn’t have operated on me I’d have died. I am immensely grateful for the help I had.
“The nursing and medical staff were superb. They were all extremely kind and helpful and I want to make sure that the people involved know how grateful I am for the care provided.”
John’s wife Ariadne called 999 after finding him on the bathroom floor.
John, who lives in Loughborough, was originally taken to A&E at Leicester Royal Infirmary but was transferred to QMC for emergency surgery following a brain scan.
The scan revealed blood had been leaking from a vein into John’s right cranium, putting pressure on his brain.
The keen cyclist’s health had been deteriorating in the few weeks leading up to his hospital admission, which John put down to ageing.
Despite regularly cycling 5,000 to 6,000 miles a year John was finding it increasingly difficult to do what he loved. On recent bike rides he found he was constantly veering to the left and even fell off his bike on one occasion.
Following successful surgery John is now back recovering at home.
He said: “I’m recovering pretty well. I’m a lot better than before and I can’t wait to get back out on my bike.”
John’s wife Ariadne said: “I’m relieved he’s getting back to normal. He’s recovering amazingly.
“I didn’t realise he was within 24 hours of death, it’s been quite a shock.”
In total John spent five nights at the QMC recovering from his surgery.
Dr Keith Girling, Medical Director at NUH said: “It’s great to hear John is recovering well at home. We are very happy he had a positive experience at NUH.
“It makes such a difference to our staff when people go to the trouble of saying thank you. We wish John a full recovery and hope he gets back out on his bike soon.”
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