A cardiologist has thanked emergency services at Dublin Airport for saving his life, after he suffered a heart attack while travelling.
Dr Farqad Alamgir, who is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, was travelling from Manchester to Dublin Airport when he became ill.
The doctor experienced "a serious cardiac event" in Terminal 2, the airport said.
Dr Farqad regularly travels to Ireland as he works in a number of hospitals here.
He was initially tended to by an Aer Lingus staff member, who administered difibrillator CPR until airport police and the fire service arrived.
Advanced paramedics provided life-saving drugs at the scene before transferring Dr Alamgir to the Mater Hospital, where he underwent emergency heart bypass surgery.
Dr Alamgir has worked for 30 years resuscitating many patients who present with acute heart attacks, but never imagined finding himself on the receiving end of cardiac care.
"I remember getting off the aircraft at Dublin Airport, then the next memory I have is waking up in the Coronary Care Unit in the Mater Hospital," he said.
The airport's first responders used the Lucas CPR system, giving Dr Farqad four shocks initially before administering lifesaving drugs via an intraosseous needle into his shin, bringing him back after 17 minutes of downtime.
Dr Alamgir said he was "so grateful and thankful to the team at Dublin Airport, the ambulance crews and the team at the Mater for giving me another opportunity to spend more time with my family".
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime he said: "There is no chance I would have survived" but for the staff and facilities at Dublin Airport.
He said: I shouldn't have been in the airport. I should have been been in a taxi as I was due to be on an earlier flight, but I was delayed."
Dr Alamgir said: "I was down for 17 minutes and being a cardiologist I know that out of hospital arrests carry a very bad prognosis. But I survived due to the excellent work done by this team."
"Only 10% of people survive out of hospital arrests, but if you have access to these devices that the airport had, the survival rate is 50%.
"No one would ever wish to have this but if I had to I would have wished to have it at Dublin Airport knowing the facilities it has and the training these guys have."
Dublin Airport Chief Fire Officer Gerry Keogh said it was hugely rewarding and humbling when a passenger walks through the door to thank his team for saving their life.
"We were absolutely delighted to welcome Dr Alamgir back to Dublin Airport. It's a testament to the training, professionalism and teamwork of the airport's first responders that he was in a position to come back and meet those who saved his life," said Mr Keogh.
The airport said its defibrillator CPR programme has saved 32 lives since it was first introduced in 2003.
Two advanced paramedics have recently been appointed there, while two more are currently in training, the airport said.
