A doctor who was sceptical about teaching the public how to deliver CPR has experienced first-hand the importance of the life-saving training.
Richard Sill, from Whalton in Northumberland, was cycling to work at Hexham General Hospital when he suddenly collapsed two miles from the town.
He has since made a full recovery, thanks to the passers-by who rushed to his rescue and administered vital CPR.
Richard said: "I go for CPR refresher training every year, but I was less convinced that it was useful for members of the public.
"Only 10% of people survive a cardiac arrest outside of hospital and only 8% recover without brain damage, so results are pretty grim."
Fortunately for Richard, two nurses were among the six passers-by that rushed to his rescue, including Charley Higham, staff nurse at RVI A&E in Newcastle.
She said: "I was flagged down by two men. I checked for a pulse and for any injuries. There wasn’t a community defibrillator nearby, but we all worked together, even though we were all strangers."
Richard explains that 100-120 chest compressions a minute are needed to administer CPR, which is exhausting and intense.
He highlights how lucky he is that six people were able to work in rotation to treat him continuously for 20 minutes until the ambulance arrived.
The 64-year-old father-of-two woke up 45 minutes later in an ambulance, confused about what had happened to him and suffering pain in his ribs from the compressions.
He later found out that he had gone into ventricular fibrillation, which prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively, that was triggered by a mild heart attack.
Ambulance crew, David Hare and Hayley Robertson, who attended the call out have commended the passers-by on their lifesaving work.
David said: "When we arrived, there had been good, effective CPR. Without it, there would have been a very different outcome."
Thanks to the trained public, Richard has made a speedy recovery and is glad to be back at work and back on his bike.
As a thank you he organised a reunion at Matfen Hall for six of the passersby, along with school bus driver John Smith who called 999, and the ambulance crew who were called to the scene.
Richard said: "I am so grateful to the people who rushed to help me and I am now convinced it can save lives.
"Plenty of places offer CPR training to the public and I would encourage anyone to get out there, get trained and save a life."
