A MAN saved a pensioner's life when he collapsed in the street after suffering a heart attack.

Seventy-four-year-old Robert Jones, of Pickering, was walking along Ruffa Lane, in Pickering, with his wife, Nancy, 68, when he had a cardiac arrest.

As he lay in the street fighting for his life, Nancy desperately tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR before former nurse Andrew Armstrong, of Trailbalzer Outdoors, Pickering, stopped to help as he was passing on his way to work.

He began giving Robert chest compressions to try to revive him while Nancy dialled 999.

He said: "I noticed someone trying to administer CRP and it looked as though they were struggling with it and quite frankly he looked dead.

"I continued to do the chest compressions when the ambulance arrived and although he looked a little better I think we were all unsure as to whether he would make it."

Robert was taken to Scarborough Hospital where he spent four days on a life-support machine. He was stayed for a further two weeks and had a pacemaker fitted before being transferred to Castle Hill Hospital, near Hull.

On arrival at Scarborough hospital, doctors told Nancy that had Andrew not been there to administer CPR it was highly likely that Robert would have died.

Now on the road to recovery, Robert recently visited Andrew to say thank you for saving his life.

Robert said: "I can't tell you just how grateful I am to him. It was a miracle really that he was there at that time otherwise I would be dead. I felt as right as rain when I left the house. The doctors now say that I am making a good recovery."

Nancy said: "We are so grateful to Andrew and it was very emotional when we found out who he was and saw him again. How do you say thank you to someone who has saved your life? It was a miracle that he was there and we just feel very humble."

Andrew, who had recently undertaken a first-aid course, said he wants to encourage others to make it a priority to get some basic first-aid training.

He said: "You can save someone's life and the training is a small amount of time out of your life, but by using it you can give someone more time in their life.

"A little skill applied right can save a life and just imagine if it was you, or if it was one of your loved ones; I would definitely encourage people to take part in a first aid course."

For more information on first aid courses visit www.sja.org.uk