"My wife thought I wasn't coming back, my children were shouting 'daddy's dead'"

A father-of-three who collapsed during a Jubilee street party in cardiac arrest survived against the odds thanks to a neighbour performing life-saving CPR after hearing his children shouted: “Daddy’s dead.”

Andrew Mace, 44, who works in technology for an investment bank and lives in Otford, Kent, with his wife Sophie, 36, and children Annabelle, 10, Luke, seven, and Alice, two, was diagnosed with Fabry disease, an enzyme deficiency, aged 26.

He had a pacemaker fitted in 2009 and a kidney transplant in 2018. But in June 2022, during a Jubilee neighbourhood party, Andrew’s family were horrified when he collapsed, suffering a devastating cardiac arrest.

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Luckily, Alex Duncan, 21, a medical student at Cambridge University, leapt into action, remembering CPR from a training day three years previously. Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes and thanks to Alex’s quick efforts, they were able to resuscitate Andrew and he was then airlifted to hospital.

The family credit Alex with saving Andrew’s life and are now working with the British Heart Foundation to prompt the public to take a 15-minute CPR course to save a life. “We’re so thankful for Alex,” said Andrew.

“I’m proof that CPR works, it can bring someone back to their family. I think my wife thought I wasn’t coming back.”

When diagnosed with Fabry disease, Andrew was shaken when medics revealed the impact the condition would have on his life – including needing a pacemaker in June 2009. Fabry disease is an inherited condition that affects one in 40,000 men. The condition is an enzyme deficiency that means the person affected is not able to break down fats, which