‘I owe my life to you’ – Scaffolder reunited with heroes who saved his life

A scaffolder has had an emotional reunion with the site team who saved his life when he suffered a cardiac arrest moments after arriving at work.

Justin Geary, 53, remembers arriving on site at The Croft in Burgess Hill, ready to start work as normal, but said the day took a dramatic turn as he went to tie his boot lace.

His son, who was working alongside him as a contract scaffolder on the Charles Church development being delivered by Persimmon Homes Thames Valley, asked is he was OK but Justin could not respond, and collapsed to the floor.

His shocked son ran to the site office and raised the alarm. Site Managers Josh Salo, Assistant Site Managers Luke Gibbins and Josh Bailey, and storeman Peter Coleman heard his calls and leapt into action.
Justin was breathing when they arrived at the scene and the team put him into the recovery position while an ambulance was called.

However, Justin then went into cardiac arrest, and the team called on their first aid training. While Josh Salo and Luke performed CPR, Peter got the site defibrillator and together they continued to work on Justin while other team members reassured his son and waited at the road to signal the ambulance.

Justin miraculously came around before the ambulance arrived thanks to the quick-thinking actions of his site colleagues. He was taken to hospital where he later underwent life-saving heart surgery.

Reunited with his heroic colleagues, Justin said: “I owe my life to the four of you, there are no two ways about it – I would not be here now if it wasn’t for what you did that day.
“I don’t remember after bending down to tie my shoelace then I woke up very confused.”

Justin, who works with sons Deron, Floyd and Diesel, and has worked on Persimmon Homes sites for 30 years, added: “I am so lucky it happened where it did because there was a defibrillator close by and the team were all trained in how to use it.”

Speaking on behalf of the team, Josh Salo said: “Everyone on site pulled together that day, and rallied around so we could do our best for Justin.
“Having his sons around made us even more determined, and together we made sure he will be around for them in the future.”

Dan Castle, Managing Director of Persimmon Homes Thames Valley, thanked the team for their bravery and professionalism, and said: “The site management team worked together to ensure the best possible outcome and we are delighted that Justin is here to share his story.
“First aid training is mandatory for our site management teams and at Persimmon Homes we ensure there is a defibrillator available on every site because together they really do save lives, as we have seen here.”