(Image: GNAAS & SARAH CALDECOTT)
A Darlington gran who "died for 15 minutes" after jumping into a lake to save her granddaughter's puppy has praised the emergency services and a stranger who saved her life.
Karen Maitchell, 66, was walking her dog and her granddaughter's six-month-old cocker spaniel, Rolo, in South Park in April 2024 when disaster struck.
After sheltering from heavy rain, thunder and lightning in the park café, Karen and her family went back outside.
(Image: GNAAS)
Moments later, Rolo ran towards the overflowing lake and leapt in.
Karen instinctively followed, thinking only of her granddaughter.
She said: "All I could think about was my granddaughter and how she's going to absolutely be broken-hearted if her dog dies."
"So, I threw myself into the lake to try and save him."
Karen remembers little after entering the water and believes she blacked out while searching for the puppy.
As her family shouted for help, a passerby who was a firefighter entered the lake.
Karen vaguely remembers being pulled from the water and seeing Rolo reach dry land safely. But the ordeal was far from over.
Soon afterwards, Karen suffered a cardiac arrest, and the firefighter began CPR, continuing until emergency crews arrived.
Crews from the North East Ambulance Service, Great North Air Ambulance Service and Durham Police raced to the scene.
Karen Maitchell with GNAAS pilot JJ Smith. (Image: GNAAS)
A defibrillator restarted Karen's heart before doctors placed her in a medically induced coma and took her to Darlington Memorial Hospital.
Her condition was so serious that family and friends feared the worst.
GNAAS community fundraiser Jamie Pottage with Karen and her family at the charity night. (Image: GNAAS)
Karen said: "I was told that there were around 40 or 50 people who turned up at the hospital and some of them were saying goodbye to me.
"Apparently my eldest son walked in, and he said all the machines were going off, and everyone was hysterical."
"All of a sudden I just woke up out of that coma."
While recovering in hospital, Karen discovered a remarkable link to her rescue.
The firefighter who pulled her from the lake and performed CPR was married to a member of the hospital staff.
(Image: GNAAS)
Karen said: "I remember waking up and seeing this lovely lady standing by my bed, asking how I was doing because her husband needed to know that I was alright."
She said: "She explained that he was the man in the park and I just started crying and said, 'Oh crikey.'"
Karen spent several weeks in hospital before returning home.
More than two years later, Karen remains grateful to everyone involved in her rescue.
(Image: GNAAS)
"I feel like I'm very, very lucky to be alive and I can't thank everyone enough," she said.
She said: "GNAAS, the police, NEAS and the man who gave me CPR all worked together to save my life. I honestly wouldn't be here if they hadn't helped me."
Karen organised a charity disco and raffle, raising £1,400 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
She said: "I am over the moon to have raised that amount of money."
Read more
Person rescued from North East river and airlifted to hospital after falling in water
Newton Aycliffe family return to hospital where daughter died to donate 102 bunnies
'Lovely' Northumberland country park with 'wonderful' café and roe deer
Karen also thanked her sister Michelle, niece Amanda and friends Alison and Bailey for helping organise the event.
After surviving cardiac arrest and a coma, Karen says every day feels like a gift.
Rolo's plunge nearly cost Karen her life, but she has no regrets about trying to save the puppy her granddaughter adored.