Heartbeat: Going to work saved my life – Matthew Maguire’s story
November 2, 2022
It was meant to be a normal summer’s day, however for Matthew Maguire, it would be a day like no other – a day he would come close to losing his life.
Coming in to work at his office at Sandwell Hospital, Associate Director of Performance and Strategic insight Mathew Maguire had no idea he would soon find himself going from staff member to patient, whilst doctors and nurses rushed to treat a life-threatening condition.
Unbeknownst to Matthew, on this day he would suffer a pulmonary embolism, a condition which occurs when a blood clot gets stuck in an artery in the lung, blocking blood flow to part of the lung.
However, fortunately for Matthew, he works at SWB and was surrounded by quick thinking colleagues who were able to spot that something was not quite right and call for urgent help. And within moments of the call going out, Mathew found himself in the hands of our EMRT team who arrived in his time of need.
“The team were very quick to respond to the emergency,” said Matthew.
“They got a trolley and moved me directly to our A&E department. I have a good relationship with John Bleasdale who was in charge of the EMRT team on that day and though I wasn’t too well at the time, he was able to keep things jovial and light-hearted which stopped me from panicking. Nothing seemed like it was out of the ordinary for them and they were in control of the situation the whole time.”
Matthew was moved from A&E resus to AMU as he was struggling to breathe and required constantly monitoring.
“The nursing staff on AMU showed great patience and understanding with me despite my condition which only made me feel better in their care.
“I must give a special mention to HCA Stuart on AMU A in bay A. It was watching Stuart interact with other patients’ relatives that made him stand out, he made hand puppets for some children whose grandfather had obviously had some bad news and he would help distract the grandchildren so that the grandfather and father could have some quiet time to talk. Though this was a small touch it really stood out to me and encompassed the great care offered.”
On the whole, Matthew received excellent care from his initial admission to his eventual discharge.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to all the clinical and non-clinical staff who supported me on patient journey as I know how close I came to death. They all cared for me on a professional and personal level, and it is truly humbling. Simply put, going to work that day saved my life!”
Matthew is currently working from home. He is currently on long term anti-coagulants with a short (three month) to medium term (six month) plan in place for his care.
Everyone at SWB would like to wish Matthew all the best and hope to see him fit and well soon!