Murray Cook praised the 23-year-old nurse who came to Greg's rescue on The Drum. Photo / Supplied
Red Wiggle Murray Cook has described the moments after Yellow Wiggle Greg Page collapsed during Friday night's concert and how the quick thinking band played an encore to cover up the drama unfolding backstage.
Murray Cook told The Drum Page was "doing really well" in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on Friday night.
He described how his bandmate "gives his all" when performing and it wasn't until the end of the high-energy show things went wrong.
"[Page] walked off and he walked behind me," Cook said.
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"I didn't actually see this part of it, but apparently he fell to his knees and when I looked around he was lying on his back with his arms outstretched."
He said he thought his bandmate was exhausted after the show and trying to catch his breath.
"He started looking like he was having a fit, and some of our crew came over," Cook said.
"I thought it was more important...for me to reassure the audience," he said, so he went back on stage and performed another song.
"We closed the curtain so they couldn't see him because part of his legs were sticking out."
Cook said he went to the green room and came back down to find people still performing CPR on Page and he had "no idea it was that serious."
He also praised 23-year-old Grace Jones, a nurse who quickly took control of the situation.
"Our drummer, Steve Pace, and our staff member, Kim Antonelli, they started the CPR and then the defibrillator turned up and Grace took over there and she's amazing," he said.
"She's only 23 and is quietly-spoken, quite shy — I think she's not enjoying all the attention really — but she was so assured and she knew what she was doing."
Over the weekend Grace Jones said: "I don't really think of myself as a hero".
The nurse at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital, was a fan of the Wiggles back when she was a child and jumped at the chance to see the originals reunite for a concert to raise funds for the ongoing bushfire crisis at Castle Hill RSL, in the city's north west.
But the Friday night concert didn't end the way Ms Jones thought it would when Page walked off stage and collapsed.
He had been feeling unwell throughout the concert but decided to push through, performing the band's second last song before walking off. It was later revealed he had suffered a heart blockage.
When Blue Wiggle Anthony Field saw his bandmate collapsed on the ground, he told the crowd to leave.
"Guys, I think we're going to end it there," Red Wiggle Murray Cook then informed the cheering crowd.
"Greg's not feeling real well. I think he's going to be OK but he's not feeling real well so I don't think we can go on with another song."
Ms Jones then approached a security guard and asked if anyone required medical assistance.
Backstage, the 23-year-old saw drummer Steve Pace and crew member Kimmy Antonelli performing CPR.
Taking charge, Ms Jones started doing CPR and went into work mode.
"I've been trained to do that and I kind of flicked a switch. I went in and I just used all the knowledge that helped him, and saved him," she told reporters yesterday.
Ms Jones then used a defibrillator three times to shock Page, miraculously getting his heart pumping again.
"I didn't go to the concert expecting to do that so it all feels a bit surreal. I do stuff like that every day at work that I have never had to do it without equipment," Ms Jones said.
Ms Jones worked on Page for 20 minutes before paramedics arrived.
Cook said the paramedics that arrived spoke of how low the chances of reviving someon are when there are fewer defibrillators around.
"[They said] just using CPR there's only a 6 per cent chance of survival and in Australia we don't have as many defibrillators as some countries," Cook said.
"In Australia I think the survival rate of heart attacks outside hospitals is about 9 per cent.
"In Seattle in the US they have a lot of defibrillators and it's 28 per cent so it makes a lot of difference. I believe they actually talk to you — they tell you what to do."
Intensive care paramedic Brian Parsell said Ms Jones was an integral part of saving Page's life.
"We found Greg was unconscious at that point but he had cardiac output, his heart was actually beating," Mr Parsell said.
"It's only through the efforts of the bystanders before we arrived that he's alive today … It was actually an extraordinary story of survival.
"It is a reason why he is here today. And that is really, the hero of the story here today is Grace who was brave enough to step forward. We are good paramedics and we do a great job, but it helps when there are people there doing what needs to be done before we arrive."
Blue Wiggle Anthony Field spoke about the terrifying incident on Triple M's Moonman in the Morning show today.
"The worst thing for me was seeing Greg," he said on radio. "He was lifeless. He had no pulse … He was pretty well gone.
"His mum and dad were standing next to me. I was hugging his mum. I could just see how helpless they were feeling."
Field added that the stress of the situation got to him and he too ended up needing medical attention.
"I have a few mental conditions myself so I got into a panic attack on the ground," he told the Triple M hosts.
Describing what happens when he has a panic attack, he said: "I start stuttering and my eyes roll up and I fall down and I start shaking like I'm having a heart attack."
Field visited Page in hospital the day after the show and ended up having another panic attack.
"I was talking to him (Page) and he had no recollection of what happened," Field said. "I was telling him and as I was telling him I just relived it in my head and I went into another panic attack."
A photo of Page in hospital giving the "thumbs up" was shared to the band's official Facebook page early Saturday afternoon, along with a message announcing that tonight's sold-out show would go ahead without him.
We have visited Greg this morning and he wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes. Greg and his family are so...
Posted by The Wiggles on Friday, 17 January 2020