Ste Snell’s best friend said he died while joking with his friends at the factory where he worked in Liverpool – leaving behind a bereaved partner and two children
A fit and healthy dad of two collapsed and died moments after “having a laugh” with his friends at work,
Ste Snell bid his family farewell for the last time when he left home for the factory where he worked on the morning of Sunday, March 2. The “perfectly fit and healthy” dad, 32, from Fazakerley in Liverpool, had tucked into a protein yoghurt while his friends ordered sausage and bacon butties for breakfast that morning, but died not long after when he suddenly collapsed.
Ste’s partner Michelle said he had been “having a joke with one of his work mates” before he suffered a cardiac arrest, with his friends finding him “lying on the floor”. The dad died after he was air lifted to hospital and placed in a medically induced coma, with medics unable to keep his heart going for more than 40 seconds following his collapse.
James Jones, Ste’s best friend, told the Liverpool ECHO his death came as a “shock”, and described the moment he found him “just lying on the floor” after walking to grab something. He said: “Around ten minutes before he collapsed he was having a joke with one of his work mates, Kenny, just stood there laughing as they always do.
“Kenny walked away from the machine to grab something and when he came back a minute or two later, Ste was just lying on the floor. They rang 999 and started doing chest compressions. And then they were told to get the defibrillator. When the ambulance turned up, they took one look at him and instantly phoned for an air ambulance and then he got lifted to Broadgreen Hospital.”
Ste underwent cardioversion – attempts to restore his heart to its natural rate – 17 times, with James saying it “wouldn’t beat any longer than 40 seconds”. He was placed in a medically induced coma, but his organs started to fail and his family decided to turn off his life support.
James’s wife, Jessica, said Ste doted over his partner Michelle and was “the best dad in the world ” to his two children. She said: “He did everything for Michelle and his two kids. Michelle and his kids were his entire world. He doted on them, he was the best dad. He was the best brother and he adored his mum.
“He was a fantastic partner, a brilliant friend and a massive Liverpool fan. He’s so missed by everyone.” Ste’s family is now hoping to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest, and Jessica has set up a GoFundMe page to ease the financial burden of his death on his family.
