‘Local hero’ dad, 49, died after ambulance wait

A son who has paid tribute to his “role model” father has claimed the “local hero” died after an ambulance took too long to reach him.

Chad Pestell, 24, told of his “anger” as he blamed the at least 15-minute delay for the death of his previously healthy father Martin Pestell, 49, following a cardiac arrest.

The 24-year-old, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, said his mother Melanie Hunt, 50, dialled 999 immediately on 18 September when she found his father collapsed in the kitchen, claiming the call handler told her, “We’ve got help on the way, but I don’t know how long it’s going to be.”

When the paramedics finally arrived, Chad claimed they told the family it had been 20 minutes from the point at which Melanie had called to the point at which they had managed to restart Martin’s heart.

East Midlands Ambulance Service told The Independent that that time period had been 15 minutes. It said that, nationally, the ambulance sector aims to respond to Category 1 calls such as Martin’s – potentially life-threatening situations that need immediate intervention – in an average time of seven minutes, and at least nine times out of 10 within 15 minutes.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, cardiac arrest can be fatal if it lasts longer than 8 minutes without CPR, while brain damage can happen after just 5 minutes.

Chad claimed the doctors who later treated his father at Lincoln County Hospital told him that the “significant brain injury” Martin had subsequently sustained was “purely down to how long he was out for”. According to the 24-year-old, the doctors went on to say: “This could significantly damage his brain and he may die from this.”

Over the course of the following six days, the family found out “the whole of Martin’s brain was damaged” via MRI scans, said Chad. “If he lived, he would have had no quality of life. So the doctors made the clinical decision to terminate his care.”

Martin died on 24 September. As he had been sedated since the cardiac arrest, his family never got the chance to say goodbye.

“It really hurts because it’s just so tragic,” said Chad, who was “extremely close” to his father. “It felt so surreal. It’s literally turned my world upside down in the space of a week. I just feel numb. It’s blown my mind, I can’t get my head around it – he was here one minute, and then he’s not.”

Martin, who owned and ran a mechanics business, “worked way too hard to provide for us all”, said Chad, who has three siblings.

“He got on with life and never let anything beat him down,” said Chad, who works as an operative on the highways. “He was always smiling. Since he passed away, people have been coming up to me saying, ‘I loved your dad. He was always smiling and cracking jokes.’ He enjoyed life even though he didn’t have a lot. He was always someone to look up to. He would do anything for anyone. One million per cent he’s my role model. In everything I do, I just think about what would he do.”

Chad spoke of the numerous fundraisers Martin has launched over his lifetime, including one for a fishing friend’s young son who was diagnosed with cancer, which raised £10,000. Martin was an avid angler, so he organised a fishing match as part of the fundraising efforts and even shaved his head. Chad added that he and his father bonded over fishing and used to frequently compete in angling competitions.

“He was very giving,” said Chad. “He always tried to do his best. He was a local hero.” He said Martin was beloved throughout Grantham and the family are expecting a large turnout at the funeral.

But first, they need to raise the funds to be able to afford to “give him the best send-off” possible. The family has therefore launched their own fundraising page on GoFundMe. “We really want to let the day be his,” said Chad.

Sue Cousland, Divisional Director for the Lincolnshire Division of EMAS said: “We offer our deepest condolences to the patient’s family and friends during this really difficult time.

“Based on the information provided to us during the call, this situation was identified as being immediately life-threatening, requiring a priority response.

“Within a matter of seconds of the call being received, our nearest available emergency resource was allocated to travel to the scene and it arrived within 15 minutes; other ambulance resources also arrived on scene to support the response. We are sorry that were not able to get to the patient sooner.

“Once the patient’s condition was stabilised, they were driven to hospital under blue-light conditions for further treatment.

“We would like to speak with the patient’s family directly to address these details with them in greater detail.”