Ray Woodhall
Ray Woodhall (front row, third from left, pictured with staff from Worcestershire Royal Hospital) suffered multiple cardiac arrests after playing walking football Worcester Royal Hospital

KEY POINTS

  • Ray Woodhall, 54, was rushed to hospital with heart attack after playing walking football
  • He was repeatedly resuscitated in hospital and required six months to fully recover
  • Woodhall thinks he died 27 times from cardiac arrests

A man who suffered dozens of cardiac arrests says he "died" 27 times in hospital.

Ray Woodhall, 54, from Wednesbury, West Midlands, was rushed to hospital after collapsing from a game of walking football in December.

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He arrested 27 times at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, with one nurse saying it was the most resuscitations she had ever seen. Before Woodhall, the most she had witnessed was seven.

His ordeal began after playing the sixth and final 10-minute match of walking football. He initially refused an ambulance thinking he was only suffering a sore chest but was called one when the pain failed to subside.

Paramedics told him he was having a heart attack and rushed him to hospital .

At about 9pm that day he underwent an operation to install two stents into his main artery, but the surgery failed to stop the arrests. His family was warned he might not make it through the evening.

They were told that even if Woodhall did pull through he could suffer brain damage.

Woodhall arrested between 9pm-3am and said the final hour was the worst.

Speaking to BBC radio, Woodhall said the attacks were like "falling asleep" and when he came round he would apologise for drifting off.The father-of-three wanted to speak out about his health scare to highlight the work done at the hospital.

The father-of-three wanted to speak out about his health scare to highlight the work done at the hospital.