A grandfather who suffered a serious heart attack today heaped praise on the “fantastic” medical teams who saved his life.

SUFFOLK: A grandfather who suffered a serious heart attack today heaped praise on the “fantastic” medical teams who saved his life.

Paul Blythfelt a serious pain in chest while he was working on the reception at John Grose in Framlingham earlier this month and it was only when paramedics arrived that he realised he had suffered two heart attacks.

As he needed an angioplasty - a procedure to widen the arteries - he had to be taken to a specialist primary angioplasty centre (PPCI) in Norwich.

A crew from the East of England Ambulance Trust contacted the East Anglian Air Ambulance who took him to the hospital within 15 minutes.

Since September, emergency heart patients have been taken to PPCI centres in Norwich, Basildon and Papworth for angioplasty treatment.

The changes, which caused outrage among patients who have called for treatment nearer home, prompted The Evening Star to launch the Have a Heart Appeal to get a specialist centre in Ipswich.

Mr Blyth, 51, of Simon's Cross, Wickham Market, said: “I think it was more serious than I thought at the time. It was about 40 minutes from the time I took off (in the helicopter) to the operation being finished.

“I am just so grateful to everyone who helped me. I have nothing but praise for them. They did a fantastic service.”

Mr Blyth, who remained awake throughout the flight and was even conscious to watch the procedure being carried out on a screen, is making a good recovery at home.

Do you know someone who has had a heart attack and been treated at the PPCI centres? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

Ambulance view:

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: “We are delighted to hear that this patient is making an excellent recovery and hope he continues to make a good recovery.

We called on the East Anglian Air Ambulance to assist with this case and it gave us a good opportunity to test our joint operational response.

“We had not been able to previously test a live patient transfer and this case offered us an excellent opportunity to do so.”