A relieved woman said that her dad was "in the right place at the right time" as two strangers rushed to his aid when he suffered a stroke.
Claire Ellarby's dad, Steve Murphy, 70, had been in Horsforth for a dentist's appointment when he suddenly collapsed in the middle of the road.
Two complete strangers rushed to his aid and called for an ambulance but were told that it would be at least 45 minutes until a paramedic was able to attend.
To get the latest email updates from LeedsLive, click here.
But, noticing that Steve was suffering symptoms of a stroke, the kind strangers told the 999 call handler that they would need to send an ambulance right away and, before long, paramedics were on the scene.
Claire said: "I got a call from the consultant to say my dad was suffering from a substantial stroke and they needed to operate right away to remove a blood clot. He said that if it wasn't for those girls' quick thinking then my dad either wouldn't be here now or would be disabled.
"The girls without a doubt have saved his life and we did meet them yesterday to give them some flowers and say thank you, it was emotional."
Claire said that her dad's consultant later rang the family to tell them that one of the nurses at Leeds General Infirmary, where Steve was treated, had also been on the scene when he collapsed.
"My dad must have collapsed in the middle of the road, but she [the nurse] actually pulled him out of the road so I think he's just been in the right place at the right time", Claire said.
She added: "It makes me wonder would I recognise the symptoms of a stroke?"
Claire is now keen to raise awareness about the symptoms of a stroke so that people know to act fast when they spot them, as quick thinking can save a life.
Symptoms can be spotted by remembering the acronym 'FAST' which stands for 'face, arms, speech and time'.
Things to look out for are:
- The face drooping to one side
- Weakness in the arms
- Slurred speech or difficulty talking
- If all three are spotted it is time to call an ambulance
Claire said that her dad is now recovering well but has been left with some speech difficulties and weakness in his body, but she is just relieved that he is still with her.
She said: "I think the girls deserve recognition for what they have done, if that ambulance had been 45 minutes I don't think we'd have our dad."
Enter your postcode to see local issues near you
And now that the family are out of the woods they have even been able to find the lighter side of this situation, laughing at the coincidental circumstances of his rescue.
"We were having a joke with dad because we must have Irish roots as his surname is 'Murphy' and it was on St Patricks Day that it happened, when my dad would usually be in the pub, and he was saved by an Irish lady called Sinead. We did have a laugh about that", Claire said.
The family were able to track Sinead and the other woman, Erica, down on Facebook so that they could meet up with them and give them both a bunch of flowers.
Claire said: "There's nothing that us as a family can give them, we've met up with them to give them some flowers, we can't thank them enough.
"And a big thank you to all the other people who unfortunately we don’t know that helped that day."
