Vet saved woman's life after stress of having family dog put down gave her a cardiac arrest

A woman has been reunited with the vet who saved her life when the stress of having the family dog put down gave her a cardiac arrest. Lizzie Bevis "turned blue" after Matthew Fry fatally injected Daisy the dog at the vets in Lincolnshire. The vet performed CPR on her while veterinary nurse Sarah Mainwaring dialled 999.



She later discovered she had long QT syndrome, a heart condition where stress can bring on cardiac arrest. "I'm very lucky," the 30-year-old said. "It's amazing that a vet saved my life. It's usually doctors and paramedics. Obviously they helped of course, without the paramedics I wouldn't be here either." Vets are trained in CPR because they have to perform it on animals, but Mr Fry had never given CPR to a human.



Ms Bevis was also given oxygen, using a mask usually used on cats and dogs. She had taken Daisy the Jack Russell to the vets on 13 July with her mother, who owned the dog, and her sister. She was unable to remember what happened to her. "They said that I sat on the floor because I felt faint," said Ms Bevis. "And the next thing my sister told me is that I was starting to breathe funny and making rasping sounds and I started turning blue."


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Mr Fry, who works at Quarrington Veterinary Surgery in Sleaford, said it was 'the most stressful Monday morning I've ever had'. "It's nice to have you back, quite literally to have you back," he told Ms Bevan when they were reunited. "Given the stress, I had considered banning you from the surgery. I thought we can't do that again but we'll make an exception, particularly as you bought us a very nice cake."