A heroic off-duty medic has described the horrifying moment she was forced to perform CPR for 50 minutes to keep a lorry driver alive.
Kevin Lothian suffered a cardiac arrest while driving along the A419 dual carriageway in Swindon on October 1.
Thanks to Beth Port's actions, the dad survived the heart attack and has now returned to his home in Scotland with his wife and daughter.
But things could have been very different if Beth had not been at the scene.
Luckily, the 48-year-old drove his HGV into trees which stopped the crash being too severe, but he was still laid across his vehicle's wheel when Beth happened to drive past.
She jumped out and found around ten people standing and looking at the lorry.
The anaesthesia associate quickly pulled him out and started performing CPR. She said every time she stopped his chest compressions, his heart would stop beating.
She was forced to keep going, with the help of fellow colleague Claire Bagley (nurse) and others at the scene, for almost 50 minutes.
When the ambulance was first called, someone told the call handler Kevin was still breathing so it was wrongly not classed as an emergency.
Beth said it took around 20 minutes for a paramedic to arrive and then when they got to the scene, they told Beth and her team of volunteers they were doing a great a job and she should keep going.
However, South Western Ambulance Service claim a senior paramedic had arrived within ten minutes.
"It felt like forever," said Beth. "But it was so worth it. It's a very strange feeling to have saved someone's life. It's all a bit too much to really comprehend.
"We kept checking for signs of life. Every time we stopped the compressions we saw his breathing would go again every 30 seconds.
The 36-year-old added: "When I arrived everyone was just stood outside looking at him. People were frightened to start anything.
"I would say to anyone just try something, even if it's just chest compressions it will be a massive help."
Kevin, who lives near Edinburgh, spent five days in Bristol Royal Infirmary's intensive care on a life support machine, during which time his wife Marie was braced for the worst.
She said: "They told me he might not live to the weekend and I should call his family to come down.
"They tested to see if there was any brain function and there was. They then had to put eight stints in his heart.
"We just wanted to thank Beth and everyone at the hospital - they were fantastic."
Within two weeks, Kevin was released from hospital but not before he enjoyed an emotional reunion with Beth.
Kevin said: "I don't remember much about what happened. I woke up in hospital and my wife told me what happened. One of the doctors asked if she (Beth) could come and visit, I said of course - she saved my life."
Beth said: "They are so lovely, it was really nice to meet them, they even Facetimed their daughter because she said she wanted to thank the person who saved her dad's life."
A South Western Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "SWASFT received the call at 4.48pm (to Godwin Road) and arrived on scene in under 10 minutes, to category 1 call set – responding with a senior paramedic Ops Officer who was first on scene, an ambulance crew and a doctor.
"A team of emergency medical responders treated this male patient on scene who then went onto hospital by land ambulance."
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