Iain Dowie, a former Premier League footballer and manager, is advocating for more people to learn life-saving skills such as cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after surviving a cardiac arrest during a spin class. The 59-year-old ex-Crystal Palace player collapsed at Gymworks in Chorley, Lancashire, on 18 March, where bystanders and paramedics quickly administered CPR and used a defibrillator to save his life.
Dowie expressed his deep gratitude for the calm and teamwork of everyone involved, noting that the broken ribs from the CPR were a “very small price to pay” for his survival. He woke up 26 hours later in the hospital and has since met with ambulance crews and dispatchers from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) to thank them personally. Reflecting on his close call, Dowie highlighted how fortunate he feels and recalled losing friends in similar circumstances.
As part of his recovery, Dowie is backing a NWAS campaign encouraging people to learn CPR, a critical skill that can drastically improve survival rates for cardiac arrest victims. According to NWAS Medical Director Chris Grant, only about 10% of people who suffer cardiac arrests outside hospitals survive, and early CPR and defibrillation are key factors in improving those odds.
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