Father in 'miracle' escape after backfiring angle grinder punctures heart in THREE places

 
Near miss: Mark McQuoid in hospital after the incident (Picture: Nigel Howard)
Matt Watts24 February 2015

A father cheated death by a “miracle” when an angle grinder backfired into his chest and punctured his heart in three separate places.

Mark McQuoid, 54, from Wimbledon, was helping re-fit a private gym in Putney when the powertool recoiled as he cut through a wall.

The classic car mechanic was left with a hole the size of a penny in his chest leading straight to his heart which was been pierced on both sides by a sheared blade.

The father-of-two had been helping out friend Chris Quinn, 51, who runs the Physical Culture gym where Sean Connery trained before landing his breakthrough role as James Bond.

Mr Quinn, who was working upstairs, only realised what had happened when he heard the machine fall silent. He dialled 999 after seeing his friend unconscious on the floor.

Paramedics were quickly on the scene and took Mr McQuoid to St George’s hospital, Tooting, where specialists made the decision to cut his chest open and carry out an emergency resuscitative thoractomy.

Doctors later told him he is the only person to live through the operation in the 15 times they have attempted it.

Mr McQuoid, who spent 12 days in hospital, said: “The fact I am alive now is nothing short of a miracle.

Near-miss: Father-of-two Mark McQuoid (Picture: Nigel Howard)

“The machine recoiled and I felt the thud into my chest. I looked down and there was only a hole the size of my finger in my jacket and in my chest.

“But I think I just sensed something was seriously wrong. I tried to stay on my feet and conscious as much as I could but I eventually passed out. Next thing I remember is being in the ambulance.”

He added: “They performed this operation at St George’s - I’m the only one to survive it. They opened the whole front of my chest to get to my heart so they could sew it up where it was punctured.

“I more or less did die when I got to A&E. The doctors told me my heart had stopped but I hadn’t flatlined. It gives me goosebumps when I think about it.

“I have so much praise for everybody in the NHS who was involved. They deserve a lot of credit. Without them I wouldn’t be here.”

He said his son Lewis, 13, had been “freaked out” by what had happened but it had inspired his daughter Emma, 15, to become a paramedic.

He said: “She’s really inspired by how they saved my life. Now she wants to do it herself. She’s naturally very caring and has been helping nurse me back to health.

“The experience has made me value my life so much more.”

His friend Mr Quinn said: “When the paramedics looked at the wound hey said it looked like he had been stabbed with a spear. They gave him a 50 per cent chance of survival. It’s a miraculous recovery.”

The London Ambulance Service crew, from Wimbledon, were reunited with Mr McQuoid on Thursday, February 18, at their base in Nursery Road.

Advanced paramedic practitioner Dave Biginton said: “I was amazed when I heard Mark had recovered, because he had been very unwell when we got there. It’s great to get a result like this.”