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An islander has planned a one-day festival to raise awareness and donations for the local RNLI team after the quick actions of lifeguards saved the life of his girlfriend when she suffered a sudden stroke last year.
The free event is being organised by Wayne Evans alongside his girlfriend, Michelle Walker, to mark the one-year anniversary of Michelle’s collapse at the Watersplash.
Back 2 Life will be taking place at the Watersplash on Saturday 13 August from 14:00 onwards. It will feature live music from local DJs, bands and artists, as well as family fun activities including giant jenga and circus games, with all money made donated to the RNLI.
Wayne and Michelle said their aim was to “raise awareness of the incredible network of first responders that the island is blessed with, most notably, the volunteer lifeguards dotted around our coastline”.
Ahead of the event, they opened up to Express about their incredible story. It unfolded on Sunday 15 August last year, as Wayne and Michelle were spending the afternoon enjoying the sunshine at the Watersplash...
Wayne said: “We had a cider and a glass of wine and were relaxing in the sun at our favourite place. The sea was so calm, we chilled and began to work out what we were going to do for lunch.”
Just minutes later, all plans for lunch were forgotten when Michelle touched the side of her head, winced, and moaned in pain. She lost consciousness almost immediately.
Wayne said: “I had my arm around her shoulders and her head fell onto my chest, I lifted her head and tapped her on the cheek a couple of times, thinking she had fainted.”
The couple at the table next to Wayne and Michelle noticed what was going on and offered to call an ambulance.
It was at this moment that the lifeguards approached Wayne and Michelle. They had been called up from the beach by a concerned bystander.
They asked Wayne what had happened and, when he explained, offered to give Michelle some oxygen from a small portable cannister with breathing apparatus attached.
Wayne admitted: “At that stage even I thought it may have been a little bit much, thinking in my own stupid head she had ‘just fainted’ and would come around soon on her own.
“How wrong I was.”
The ambulance arrived about 25 minutes after Michelle has collapsed, and she had started to regain consciousness by this point. She managed to walk to the ambulance with assistance but was confused as to what was going on around her.
The ambulance headed towards the hospital, but Michelle suddenly had a severe seizure as they drove down Victoria Avenue.
Wayne said: “Her whole body tensed up in spasm, it was at this point it really hit home how serious this had become, I believed we were actually losing her, I was now in a complete and absolute nightmare, frantic with worry.
“The paramedic banged on the back of the cab whilst she was simultaneously trying to calm down Michelle. The ambulance pulled over, I think it was somewhere along the avenue as the two guys from the front of the cab jumped as quickly as they could into the back as they tried to revive Michelle and bring her back around.
“I just sat there helpless whilst desperately just hoping with my entire being that they could sort her out. Now with tubes everywhere and a drip in, things were looking a lot more serious.”
The paramedics managed to stabilise Michelle and she was taken to hospital. Wayne later found out that one of the paramedics in the ambulance had been at school and had played netball with Michelle, but they hadn’t seen each other in years.
Pictured: " I was now in a complete and absolute nightmare, frantic with worry."
Whilst in the hospital waiting room, Wayne informed Michelle’s close friends and family what had happened. Her sister and best friend joined him at the hospital.
At around 22:00 that night, they were informed that Michelle had suffered a large bleed on her brain and was being readied to be flown out to Southampton for emergency surgery.
Michelle had been placed in an induced coma, but Wayne and Michelle’s son were allowed to see her briefly before she was flown out.
Wayne said: “The one thing me and her son both noticed was how peaceful she seemed, with not a single frown or line on her face as we gave her a kiss and said our goodbyes.
“We both didn’t mention it to each other but I’m certain we both thought the same thing: this could be the last time we see her alive.
“I told the attendant to make sure she got her phone, it had a screensaver of her grandchildren who she dotes on. I thought if she remembers anything when she wakes up it will be those two kids.”
Pictured: Wayne and Michelle's Back 2 Life event will be taking place at the couple's favourite place, the Watersplash in St. Ouen.
Michelle had suffered a large bleed on the brain, termed a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage, which had resulted in an aneurysm and two seizures. In Southampton Hospital, she had four coils inserted into her brain through a small incision in an artery in her groin.
Wayne said: “To be really truthful, I didn’t know what kind of Michelle I was going to get back from Southampton. I was warned and prepared for the worst before the operation and so I had read up on the kind of long-term damage commonly associated with this type of haemorrhage.
“I was basically waiting for the call from her that informed me whether I would be pushing Michelle around in a wheelchair and spoon-feeding her for the rest of both of our lives if she even woke up at all. I had to be prepared for anything and well yes, I found this particularly difficult to get my head around.
“I eventually received a call sometime late the next day from her phone. I saw the number and tentatively said ‘hello’. Michelle replied: ‘Bring me gifts and chocolates!’"
He continued" “I broke down half-laughing, half-crying. You see, it was her! When you know someone, five words can tell you absolutely everything you need to know. She was there and I knew from that sentence that she was going to be okay; we were going to be okay.”
After two weeks in Southampton, Michelle returned home. Six months after her operation, she was walking again completely unassisted.
Although Wayne is extremely grateful to all of the staff who helped Michelle through her treatment and recovery, he believes that the most important people were the three young lifeguards at the Watersplash who administered her oxygen immediately after she lost consciousness.
Wayne explained: “I really don’t think they, to this day, know what exactly it is that they have done. I definitely know they don’t know my story and I feel like they need to know.
“So let me tell them, let me tell their parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, their friends, colleagues, and their bosses exactly what those guys did and why you should be so proud of them right now."
“They say that with what happened to Michelle, the first minutes are absolutely critical. Brain cells start to die if they go without oxygen for just three to four minutes, and that's exactly what happens during a stroke. With each minute that passes, you lose about two million brain cells.
“The longer you go without oxygen, the greater your chance for brain damage that can't be undone. After about 10 minutes, the damage can be severe. After 15 minutes without oxygen to the brain the chances of survival are near enough nil. 20 minutes and you are basically dead."
Pictured: "I knew from that sentence that she was going to be okay; we were going to be okay.”
Wayne reflected: “If the lifeguards at the Watersplash hadn’t administered Michelle with oxygen within that critical five minute period, Michelle would almost certainly have died that day and so the rest of the story doesn’t even get to occur.
“Her son would be without a mother, her two grandchildren would be without their ‘Nana Shell’, her two sisters would be missing their sibling and the amazing friends that she has would have lost, what I know is one of their dearest friends. My life obviously would have been a lot different too.”
He added: “We still don’t know the name of the lifeguards or the people who actually called them off the beach and called the ambulance for us. We can’t just carry on regardless and allow what they did to be understated.
“My thinking is that if we didn’t do something like putting this event on, exactly a year from that particular weekend, then it would all be forgotten about and their deeds would probably just disappear as quickly as we did from them that day on Sunday 15 August 2021. For them it would have all been over within half an hour, for us, it was our lives.”
Wayne and Michelle hope that the Back 2 Life event at the Watersplash on Saturday 13 August will allow them to say their thanks to the teams of first responders all over Jersey who are crucial to the people that they dedicate their lives to helping.
Pictured: All money raised on Saturday 13 August will be donated to the local RNLI.
Wayne explained that also hoped that the event would serve as a reminder that life is “rare and precious”.
He said: “We could be anyone, in fact, we are just anyone and that is the point, without these volunteers I do wonder what our lives would have become, they changed our fate.
“At this event on Saturday 13 August, we can all say our thanks to the people dotted all around our coastline, those who sit and watch over people on a daily basis and in our case, not even in the water or on the beach but simply sat outside the Splash enjoying the sun.
“I don’t know if anybody else on this island has reason, cause or has had a similar experience to us, or simply just wants an occasion to say ‘thank you’ to these guys, but we really hope that this event can provide an opportunity for the people of the island to raise a cheer and do just that.”
Pictured: The event features live music and family-friendly entertainment.
Wayne also wanted to thank everyone who has given up their time to make the Back 2 Life event happen, and is looking forward to seeing everyone at the Watersplash on Saturday 13 August from 14:00 onwards.
You can find more details about the event on the Back 2 Life Facebook page.
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