THE family of a teenager who nearly died after going into cardiac arrest have thanked the people who saved his life.

Sixteen-year-old Tom Reid, from Christchurch, was at a cycling event in Sherwood Forest on Sunday, March 29, competing for Bournemouth’s Primera Sports team.

A racing cyclist at peak fitness, with dreams of winning the Tour de France, he began to feel unwell and breathless, so he got off his bike, removed his helmet and sat down.

The next thing he remembers is waking up in intensive care.

“At the time, nobody knew what had happened to Tom,” his mum, Sally, said. “He was unconscious and they thought he’d probably come off his bike, but he’d gone into cardiac arrest.”

Fortunately, an off-duty St John Ambulance paramedic and volunteer was on hand to give CPR for 30 minutes. After six shocks from a defibrillator, Tom was airlifted to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre before being transferred to the City Hospital.

With their son in a medically-induced coma, Tom’s parents were warned they should expect the worst.

Sally said: “He was in a stable condition, but the doctors told us they didn’t expect Tom to live because his heart had been stopped for so long; they said we should get the rest of the family together to say goodbye.”

The doctor’s plan was to try waking Tom on the Tuesday morning, but everyone was surprised when his eyes flickered open and he squeezed his parents’ hands – less than 24 hours after he fell ill.

Having been transferred to Southampton General and fitted with an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) to act as a pacemaker and correct the heart’s rhythm, Tom was sent home on April 17.

He was back on his bike two weeks later and is recovering well.

Now, inspired by his story, his family and friends have taken first aid training with St John Ambulance in case they are ever confronted with an emergency.

“My son is an exceptionally lucky boy and we’re very lucky to still have him with us,” Sally said.

“It’s easy to think that with defibrillators around, you don’t need to learn CPR, but the people who were first on scene saved Tom’s life by jumping in and not stopping for half an hour.

“I would dearly love to be able to say thank you in person, for what they did. If it hadn’t been for them, Tom would’ve died there.”