Date: 29th Mar 2024
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PHIL SLOAN ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY AFTER HEART ATTACK

Date: 16th May 2017

PHIL SLOAN ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY AFTER HEART ATTACK

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Prompt action and Defibrillator available at the club were crucial

Friends and colleagues of Northern CC’s Phil Sloan were heaving a colossal sigh of relief after the quick thinking of team-mates and spectators helped save the life of one of Merseyside’s most popular and well-known cricketers.
 
The 56-year-old Sloan had just been dismissed in  a third-team game at Moor Park when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed on the outfield where he lay motionless for five minutes. However, this was noticed by James Watson, an off-duty policeman  who was playing for Bootle’s second team on an adjoining pitch and he immediately went to Sloan’s aid.
 
Helped by nurses who were also on the ground, Watson applied coronary-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and also used Northern’s defibrillator to restart Sloan’s heart. Two ambulances arrived promptly and were able to gain immediate access via the club’s rear car park
 
They took Sloan to Broadgreen Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and a stent was fitted. He is now on course to make a full recovery but is nevertheless fully aware of what may have happened had not Watson and others come to his aid or had his club not had a defibrillator in full working order.
 
“The important thing was that everyone acted quickly and sensibly,” said Northern’s cricket chairman, Graham Kerr. “That’s what saved Phil’s life. If we had just waited for the ambulance, it would have been too late. It was also vital that we had a defibrillator in full working order and that is the lesson that I hope all sports clubs will take from this incident.”
 
Officials of the Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition, the league in which Sloan plays, were also at pains to stress the importance of all their clubs possessing the necessary life-saving equipment.
 
“I can’t speak too highly of the way in which those at Northern and the club itself dealt with this situation,” said Chris Weston, the Competition’s secretary. “It was a team effort from a wide range of people and I know that Phil is immensely grateful to all those that helped him.”
 
“However, he is also very much aware of the need for clubs to have defibrillators and people capable of using them. A speaker from the Oliver King Foundation came to one of our annual meetings a few years ago and he stressed the need for all clubs to be properly equipped.
 
“We are just grateful that the right people with the right skills were available at the right time. It shows the virtue of clubs placing a priority on things which may not be glamorous but which are vital in ensuring that the a sports club is properly equipped to meet any situation.” 
      
 
 
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