Derbyshire dad, 38, almost dies on holiday after suffering sudden cardiac arrest and heart attacks - as hundreds raised to get him home

When Lisa Kettleborough, 40, from Bolsover, booked a surprise trip to Malia, Greece to celebrate her husband Patrick’s 38th birthday, she didn’t expect their dream holiday would turn into a nightmare.

But a day after arriving at their holiday resort Patrick – known as Patch – started feeling unwell and tired and by the evening he a pain in his jaw.

He then started feeling a pressing pain on his chest so decided to see a doctor.

Lisa said: “As soon as we got there, they just grabbed him and put him on an ECG and then everyone started running around and they rushed Patrick to an ambulance.”

While in the ambulance Patrick had a heart attack and by the time he arrived at the hospital, he suffered another cardiac arrest.

At hospital an emergency stent was fitted to save his life.

Lisa said: “It's been a heart wrenching, horrendous time. The doctors said he was a very lucky man to still be here because one of the arteries was 90 per cent blocked, and the other was 60 per cent blocked.”

The doctor said the blockages would have been building-up for years due to a congenital heart disease that Patrick was unaware of.

Following the surgery, he was taken to intensive care, where no one was allowed to visit him for two days due to a risk of infection.

Lisa said: “I knew it was serious.

"We’ve been together for 18 years and he is the love of my life.

“On the third day, the doctors did eventually let me see him, but I only had five minutes. I had to put a mask and an apron on and I wasn't allowed to touch him. He was a bit out of breath. He was talking to me. He was under the influence of some medication that they've been giving him. He asked me where he was. When I told him that it was intensive care, he didn't believe me.

"And I cried a lot, I’m getting upset even now, just thinking how close he came to dying.”

Patrick’s mum Alison, 71, and the couple’s two children Lilly, 15, and Jamie, 16, flew to Greece.

Lisa said: “The children were very disturbed and distraught. They were allowed to see him on the second day - they got five minutes each. And then his mum got five minutes as well. On the third day we got collectively 10 minutes.”

After Patrick’s children and mum flew back to England, Patrick stayed in a hospital for a while, before being allowed to go back to the Happy Days Studio Apartments at Malia, where he was originally staying.

Lisa said: “Patrick had two large heart attacks and three or four mini ones. It's so rare to go through this at his age. The doctors didn't quite expect him to make the recovery so quickly. They thought he would have to stay in the hospital longer and would need a doctor on a flight back home.

“Now he is resting at the hotel. People from our Happy Days Apartments have become like a family to us.

"They have been absolutely incredible. They've done everything they possibly could to help us.They have called us taxis, translated to doctors and done some washing for us as we were packed only for five days. They've even opened the kitchen at half eleven at night when my children arrived after a late night flight. They are absolutely incredible people.”

Staff from the Blue Bell Pub, in Bolsover, where Lisa works and Patrick has been a manager for four years, set up a GoFundMe Page to help to cover some of the unexpected expenses the family had to face. They have already raised over £700.

The couple had insurance, but it doesn't cover the flights, taxis to hospital, extra stay in the hotel or the fact they have been unable to work.

Lisa said: “I didn't know about the fundraiser and I was quite surprised. It's so nice of our girls at the pub to do this for us. I am humbled to see how many people have supported us. Even our local Mayor has donated £100. This means a lot because even when we just arrived in the medical centre, within the first five minutes we were charged £650 up front for care, not to mention taxis, flights and other expenses.”

Patrick is hoping he will be able to fly back to his home in Bolsover on Friday, October 7 and undergo further medical examinations in England.