A fit and healthy endurance athlete from Bristol has revealed how a combination of quick-thinking friends, a volunteer first responder, and a simple mobile app saved his life after he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at the roadside.
A Routine Ride Turns to Crisis
In November last year, 63-year-old Mark Moran, a seasoned triathlete, cyclist, and marathon runner, was on a leisurely bike ride with friends Steve Makin and Dave Lane. The group was cycling from Cirencester to the Crown pub in Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire, anticipating a chip lunch. Without warning, Mark's world went dark.
"It happened over a few seconds. I'm on the bike and I start to feel dizzy like I'm passing out," Mark recalled. "The last thing I remember is facing at an angle. And the last thing to go through my head was - 'this is it'. There was almost a sound of thunder in the background and it just felt like the end."
Mark collapsed by the roadside with no heartbeat and stopped breathing. His friend Steve was at his side within moments. "It was obvious I was gone," said Mark. "I was laid there, not moving, with my eyes wide open, not breathing. So for Steve it was absolutely terrifying."
The Chain of Survival in Action
Steve immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), rhythmically pressing on Mark's chest to the beat of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" as remembered from a public health campaign. He pressed so forcefully that he fractured three of Mark's ribs, a common but necessary consequence of effective CPR.
While Steve performed chest compressions, their friend Dave cycled back to help, clearing Mark's airways and positioning him. Steve managed to call 999. In a crucial twist, he had the What3words app on his phone. This geolocation tool divides the world into three-metre squares, each with a unique three-word address. Steve used it to guide the emergency services to their exact, remote location.
First responder Pete Bishop, a volunteer with the South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust, was dispatched from Tetbury. Thanks to the precise location, he reached the scene in just nine minutes. Pete administered two life-saving shocks with a defibrillator to Mark, whose lips had turned blue.
"I had no idea just how important first responders are," Mark said. "Pete was just sitting at home in his trackie bottoms, doing his day job. He didn't put on his uniform, he just jumped into a car, flew out and got on with the job. They're unpaid and they're phenomenal people."
Recovery and a Return to the Scene
An ambulance and air ambulance soon arrived. Mark briefly regained consciousness, shouting "All right, boys" to his friends before slipping away again. He was airlifted to the Bristol Heart Institute, which Mark describes as "one of the best places you could be with a heart issue."
He had an internal defibrillator fitted, despite having no prior heart conditions, and spent over three weeks in hospital. Remarkably, Pete later disclosed he had attended 20 similar cases – Mark was the first to survive.
Mark has since made a full recovery. Six months after his cardiac arrest, he completed the Bristol Half Marathon to raise funds for the air ambulance crew. In July, the three friends retraced their fateful ride, finally making it to the pub for their long-awaited chips. They stopped at the grassy verge where Mark had collapsed, his head in the bushes, teetering on the brink of death.
A Lifesaving Legacy and a Call to Action
Mark, who runs Hydrate For Health, a company behind the Hydrant drinking system, knows how fortunate he is. Less than 10% of people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. "My heart was basically stopped for 15 minutes. It's pretty terminal," he said. "So I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet. Had it not been for my mates and Pete Bishop, I wouldn't be here today."
His experience underscores a critical public health message. With three-quarters of cardiac arrests happening at home, it is often a family member or bystander who is first on the scene. Prompt CPR and defibrillation can more than double survival chances, yet less than three in ten people in the UK feel confident to intervene in a crisis.
Organisations like NHS Charities Together are working to change this. Through a partnership with Omaze, they are distributing £1.85 million in funding to support all 14 UK NHS ambulance charities. The investment will provide essential community training, resources, and life-saving equipment to build resilience and ease pressure on emergency services.
Mark's story is a powerful testament to the "chain of survival": immediate bystander CPR, rapid emergency service access aided by technology like What3words, early defibrillation, and advanced specialist care. He now urges everyone to learn CPR, as it is a skill that can truly mean the difference between life and death.
