Eight Aussie heroes saved life of grandma who had ‘widow maker’ heart attack in remote outback

A grandmother was miraculously revived by a team of rural heroes after suffering a ‘widow maker’ heart attack in the Australian outback.

Karryn Dolan suffered a catastrophic heart attack while shooting feral pigs in the Cape York Peninsula, with the nearest doctor more than 90 minutes away.

Despite doctors telling her family to say their final goodbyes, the crucial work of eight people managed to keep the beloved grandma alive.

Despite doctors telling her family to say their final goodbyes, the crucial work of eight people managed to keep the beloved grandma alive

‘We had no time to think about it, we just did what we had to do until the ambulance arrived,’ her husband Peter told the Courier Mail.

Mrs Dolan was pig shooting on friends Neville and Emma Jackson’s property 700km from the nearest hospital at the time she suffered the heart attack.

After falling down, her fast-thinking husband quickly put her on the back of his quad bike and took her to the house.

He rode to the house shouting and screaming that Mrs Dolan was not breathing and had no pulse, until Mrs Jackson rushed out with a defibrillator and shocked her three times. 

The defibrillator had been brought to the station by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, a factor that saved Mrs Dolan’s life.

She was initially brought back by the machine, but her heartbeat wasn’t strong enough to sustain life, so they had to continually charge her before an ambulance could arrive.

Mrs Jackson said James Rollason, the triple-0 emergency dispatcher, was crucial in keeping her alive. 

‘He was amazing and once Karryn showed signs of life, talked us through determining whether the breathing was efficient or not and if CPR needed to be continued,’ she told the newspaper.

Ms Dolan was pig shooting on friends Neville (left) and Emma Jackson’s (right) property 700km from the nearest hospital at the time she suffered the heart attack

Mrs Jackson performed more than an hour of CPR on her friend while husband Peter kept her oxygen stable, before Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic Paul Spinks and nurse Sandra Higgs arrived in the four-wheel-drive ambulance.

‘I must admit I was feeling that we wouldn’t find the patient alive as I heard she was receiving CPR at the home and we were still an hour and a half away. Clinically none of it was good,’ Mr Spinks said. 

The paramedics were delayed by swarms of moths and crickets that splattered across the windscreen and ‘visibility was almost nil’, forcing them to slow down to 40km/h at times. 

Mrs Jackson said James Rollason, the triple-0 emergency dispatcher, was crucial in keeping her alive

‘I must admit I was feeling that we wouldn’t find the patient alive as I heard she was receiving CPR at the home and we were still an hour and a half away,’ paramedic Paul Spinks said

Mr Jackson drove Ms Dolan to Coen Airport to link up with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to take her to Cairns, while the paramedics kept her alive in the back.

Mr Dolan said the team created a ‘makeshift hospital’ on the runway before she was even loaded into the plane, and he prayed she would make it despite not being religious. 

He said his wife was a fighter, and he could see in her eyes how hard she was trying to stay alive even though it was a long trip to hospital.  

Once they arrived, doctors told the family and friends who had kept her alive they needed to prepare for the end, and brought her family into the ICU on New Year’s Eve to say goodbye.  

Dr Rebecca Brady and Michelle Ball treated Mrs Dolan on board the plane, with Dr Brady saying she had a 12 per cent survival chance given the type of heart attack she suffered.

Dr Rebecca Brady (pictured) and Michelle Ball treated Ms Dolan on board the plane, with Dr Brady saying she had a 12 per cent survival chance given the type of heart attack she suffered

Mr Dolan said the team created a ‘makeshift hospital’ on the runway before she was even loaded into the plane, and he prayed she would make it despite not being religious

She said even with the combined efforts of all involved, Ms Dolan didn’t make it to Cairns until 3.30am, so she wasn’t expecting her to survive.

But Mr Dolan said he still had hope, not matter what, that his wife would pull through. 

Ms Dolan made a remarkable recovery and is walking around the hospital, talking to staff and family, and even doing paperwork for her family business.

‘You can’t underestimate Karryn,’ her husband said.