A dad-of-two who nearly died when an angle grinder smashed into his chest and pierced his heart three times has praised the NHS staff who saved his life.

Wimbledon Times:

Terrifying: He felt a thud and knew something had gone wrong

Mark McQuoid, 54, from Wimbledon, was helping a friend do some DIY in Putney, on January 15.

He was using an angle grinder, a power tool used for cutting and grinding, when it backfired and hit him in the chest, causing life-threatening wounds to his heart.

Mr McQuoid’s friend was upstairs when he noticed the machinery had gone quiet.

He looked out of the window, saw Mr McQuoid on his knees and called the ambulance that saved his life.

Paramedics were quickly on the scene and whisked him to St George’s, in Tooting, where specialists made the split-second decision to carry out a rare type of surgery called an emergency resuscitative thoractomy.

The highly invasive operation only carries a 7.5 per cent chance of survival, but McQuoid’s heart was beating erratically and they knew it was his only chance.

Wimbledon Times:

Reunion: Mr McQuoid, his daughter Emma, and the paramedics who saved him

He said: "I tried to stay on my feet and conscious as much as I could. There was no pain. I have hurt myself in the past but I knew something serious had happened.

"There was only a hole the size of my finger in my jacket and in my chest. There was hardly any blood.

"The ambulance crew saved my life - they got there really quickly. I was lucky I was only in Putney and St George’s was not that far away.

"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.

"Their shift was changed - they were told they had to wait until I arrived so everyone was on hand. It was all down to circumstance that it all fell into place.

Wimbledon Times: St George's Hospital

Emergency surgery: The operation carries a very low rate of survival 

"I more or less did die when I got to A&E. It gives me goose bumps 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. They saved my life from the ambulance staff to the A&E to surgeons.

"My boy, he’s a little bit freaked out about it. He’s not sure what to make of it. My daughter now wants to be a nurse."

Mr McQuoid, who restores motor cars, spent 12 days in hospital but is now home with his family trying to get better.

William Glazebrook, St George’s emergency department consultant said: "Mark would have definitely died only a few years ago, before the Trauma Network was formed. It takes everyone in the chain to be on point for these patients to not only survive, but to go back to an independent life.

"Everyone involved in the care of trauma patients at St George’s should be very proud."

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."