A former firefighter who had a heart attack in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park thanked paramedics for coming to his aid.
On a mild summer’s day (Thursday, 05 February 2026), retired Fire and Rescue NSW firefighter Craig Sutton (main image, centre right) was enjoying his hobby of photography in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park when he began to feel unwell.
“It was one of those days where it wasn’t supposed to be too hot, it was supposed to be about 25 degrees. I’d gone for a bushwalk up the Blue Mountains the day before and it was a beautiful day, so I thought I’d go again, but to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
“I live in the Inner West but my brother lives at Cromer, so I’m very familiar with it. I had gone down to Flint and Steel Beach, I was walking back up the path. Halfway up I thought I had a bit of indigestion, but by the time I got back up to the car, the pain was pretty bad.
“I put on the air-conditioning, drank the rest of my water, but by the time I hit McCarrs Creek Road, I knew I was in trouble, so I found a spot to pull over and called Triple Zero (000). I’m a retired firefighter, so I knew what was going on,” recounted Mr Sutton.
At the other end of the Triple Zero line were NSW Ambulance call takers Marie Falzon and Tiarna Simon, along with dispatcher Juliet Robinson who tasked paramedics Thomas Lee and Mia O’Sullivan from Belrose Ambulance Station (image above).
Mr Sutton said the call takers kept him calm, and had him describe where he was, to help direct paramedics to him as quickly as possible.
“I knew where I was spatially, but I didn’t know the name of West Head Road. They dispatched the ambulance, and the two paramedics turned up.
“One of the paramedics [Thomas Lee] told me he could see my face through the window of the car as they pulled up. He said he knew exactly what was happening, because I was white, and he could see the sweat just dripping off me,” explained Mr Sutton.
Both paramedics got to work assessing Mr Sutton, but Mr Lee (image above, left) recalled that Mr Sutton (image above, right) was in a bad way.
“We loaded him into the ambulance immediately and found he was having a heart attack. We provided treatment on the side of the road and got moving shortly after.
“We requested help from an Intensive Care Paramedic who met us on the way to Northern Beaches Hospital. We performed an electrocardiogram [ECG] and sent it ahead of us to the hospital.
“Based on the ECG readings, we bypassed the Emergency Department. The cath lab [catheterisation laboratory] was activated and he was offloaded directly into the cardiac theatre.
“He then received PCI [percutaneous coronary intervention, a non-surgical procedure to open clogged or narrowed arteries] and was witnessed to arrest on the table, but was shocked and revived.
“From the time of the call to the operating table was around 40 minutes. If we had been ten minutes slower, he would have likely arrested in the back of our ambulance or in his own vehicle,” said Mr Lee.
As a firefighter with over three decades experience, Mr Sutton is acutely aware of how narrow the window of survival was that day.
“I’ve done a lot of drills with the ambos over the years, with the fire brigade. They are super professional, really smart people. They knew exactly what was happening. When I saw the ambulance arrive, I thought my odds of surviving had gone from about 30 percent to about 80 percent.
“When the other Intensive Care Paramedic jumped in the back, they had a bit of trouble talking to Northern Beaches Hospital. Plan A wasn’t working but they are well trained and so professional, and put Plan B into action.
“By the time I arrived, we went straight through the Emergency Department. We didn’t even stop there, and went straight to the cath lab. After a minute or two in the cath lab, I arrested. It was absolutely the perfect scenario for me. I was so lucky it happened there.
“I was a firefighter for 36 years, and maybe five times in all those years, someone came up and said thank you. You cut people out of car accidents, and you don’t always find out whether they survived or not. So I wanted to thank them personally,” shared Mr Sutton.
Having now recovered, Mr Sutton and his son Ryan (image above, centre left) were reunited with the NSW Ambulance call takers and paramedics at Belrose Ambulance Station, Wearden Road, Belrose, on Tuesday, 28 April 2026. Paramedic Thomas Lee said he was grateful to see Mr Sutton again.
“It was great to meet Mr Sutton after his recovery and see how well he is doing. In my last five years as a paramedic, he is the first person to request to meet and thank me in person.
“It was a special moment for all involved. The reunion included the call takers, the dispatcher, the paramedics and his son,” said Mr Lee.
Images: NSW Ambulance
Remote and difficult rescues on the Northern Beaches are surprisingly common. Anywhere without a defined street address can prove difficult for emergency services to locate, even relatively benign locations such as beach and headland walks. It is strongly recommended to download the Emergency Plus app on your phone in case you ever need it.
What did you miss this week?
Get the week's news delivered free to your inbox every Saturday. Subscribe to our free email newsletter.
