Ben’s heart suddenly stopped at the age of 16. His best friend’s mother saved his life
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Exclusive: ‘I just went into autopilot really, thinking I can’t let this boy die in my house,’ said Lucinda-Hill Chambers. Lucinda Hill-Chambers initially thought her son Charlie and his best friend Ben Ely were messing around when she was told something was wrong.
![[Ben, left, with his friend Charlie, right, who alerted his mother when Ben fell very ill]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/10/L-R-Charlie-and-Ben-copy.jpg)
But when she checked on Ben, slumped forward and breathing with difficulty, she knew she had to take action before it was too late. “Very quickly I could tell it was serious,” she told The Independent. Ben had gone to Charlie’s house in Guildford to hang out, a regular occurrence for the 16-year-old boys. But this visit ended up being far from normal, as Ben had suffered a cardiac arrest and his heart had stopped beating.
![[Lucinda Hill-Chambers said she went into autopilot trying to save Ben]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/10/Lucinda-Hill-Chambers.copy.jpg)
“We were watching a movie and my eyes became fuzzy so I closed them, and then I have no memory,” Ben told The Independent. Ben’s mother and father, Sue and Barney Ely, had been a couple of hours away visiting Ben’s grandmother. Ms Ely said she was walking their dog in the woods when Ms Hill-Chambers called with the news.
![[Mother Sue Ely, right, says Ben has recovered well from his ordeal]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/10/Sue-and-Ben-Ely-%281%29.jpg)
“You could tell she was a bit panicky, and she said ‘Ben’s collapsed, he’s not breathing’,” Ms Ely said. “I said, ‘What do you mean, he’s not breathing? He’s 16 and a half!’”. Luckily for Ben, Ms Hill-Chambers knew how to do CPR. She pulled the teenager off the couch onto the floor as she was speaking to the 999 operator, and began performing chest compressions. It was an act that medical professionals, Ben and his family credit to saving his life.
![[Ben, pictured with his mother Sue, said cardiac arrest could happen to anyone]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/10/Sue-and-Ben-Ely.jpg)
