Goytre man back at bingo after heart attack (From South Wales Argus)

Goytre man back at bingo after heart attack

3:50pm Monday 31st January 2011 in News

A GWENT bingo fan made an emotional return to the hall where he collapsed and nearly died. Lyndon Wright, 57, from Goytre, suffered a heart attack while playing at Castle Leisure Club, Newport.

The club is one of several in South Wales equipped with a defibrillator, an electric shock machine, and quick-thinking staff brought Mr Wright back from the brink.

When retired butcher and steelworker, Mr Wright collapsed, staff Marcus McLean and John Featherstone used training given by the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The pair shocked Mr Wright using the defibrillator while another bingo player, nurse Kate Howells, gave cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, or CPR.

By the time an ambulance arrived, the father-of-six was coming around.

After recovering from the incident, Mr Wright is now back enjoying his Friday night sessions.

He said: “I haven't had any wins, though. I must have used up all my luck that night.”

Mr Featherstone said Mr Wright was grey, pastey, sweating a lot, with a weak pulse.

They put the pads on and he was shocked.

“The first thing he said was 'did I win?' I couldn't believe it. I would have thought bingo was the least of his worries,” added Mr Featherstone.