A MAN whose heart stopped three times will return to the pub where he was saved tomorrow - for the Sunday lunch he missed out on.

Dennis Darcy was meeting his family in The Blacksmiths Arms, Naburn, near York, last month when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

As reported in The Press, his life was saved thanks to “complete coincidence”, “incredible timing”, and the amazing first aid efforts of staff at the pub.

Dennis will return tomorrow with his family for the lunch he never had, and to thank the staff personally for saving his life.

He said: “I don’t remember much about it. Only that we had a bit of a walk down the Ouse, only 100 yards or so from the pub, then walked back in and I remember ordering two cups of coffee and after that, I know nothing at all.

“I missed everything, collapsing on the floor, people running round after me, doing compressions, a young lad going out to find the defibrillator and coming back with the parish councillor. The next thing I remember was waking up in LGI and I don’t even remember an awful lot about that.”

York Press:

Anne Clark, with landlord Tony Buckley and chef James Priest from The Blacksmiths Arms in Naburn with the defibrillator. Picture: Frank Dwyer.

Pub landlord Tony Buckley, staff member Gemma Brice, who recently qualified as a midwife, and chef James Priest, carried out chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth on the 78-year-old after he collapsed, and James ran into the village to get the community defibrillator, where he met Anne Clark - a parish councillor who helped install the defibrillator, and had a code to release it without needing to phone 999.

Dennis was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), then transferred to Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, where he spent weeks recuperating from having stents and a defibrillator fitted by doctors to prevent further cardiac arrests.

Jill Darcy, Dennis’s wife, also appealed in The Press following the incident to help find another woman - a former nurse - who carried out CPR and helped save Dennis’s life.

Dennis said: “I would really like to find that lady. She was responsible as well for helping to put me back on my feet.

“I have an awful lot to thank these people for, that I’m up and about and I’m hoping I have a few more years to go. Someone said ‘it just wasn’t your time’, but it was an amazing set of coincidences.

“I was disappointed to miss out on a Sunday dinner, but also on a helicopter ride - I’ve always wanted to go in a helicopter. I’m really looking forward to meeting those people though. I can’t wait to thank them. I wish I could thank them more than I can.

“We’ve made quite a good donation to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for their efforts and I’ll be buying them a drink at the pub if they’ll have one.”