An Irish dad-of-two was saved by a heroic nurse after he collapsed on a busy London street over the weekend.
Mathew O’Toole, an Irishman living in the UK, was walking along Wigmore Street in Mayfair on the morning of June 10 when he collapsed and suffered a stroke.
After a social media appeal to find the woman who came to his aid, Mathew and his wife have reconnected with Danielle, a nurse who came to his rescue.
Mathew and his wife Georgina met up with his “guardian angel” over the weekend.
Mathew told the BBC on Saturday: "It is Father's Day tomorrow, and I could have left two children, aged 16 and 12, and a wife, but as it is I am looking forward to opening some socks."
His wife Georgina explained the scary situation on Twitter.
The 47-year-old dad “started vomiting".
“Many people passed by. Many probably assumed that he was drunk or hungover. One lady stopped.”
"She recognised the signs of a stroke, called the paramedics, and directed them to take him straight to UCH emergency stroke unit.
"If she hadn't done that, we might not have him here today. Or things could have been a lot worse than they are."
Mathew remembered his “guardian angel” as being a curly, blonde nurse called Dani or Danielle from Australia or New Zealand. The couple were desperate to find the woman and thank her for saving Mathew's life.
On June 20, Georgina went back to Twitter to announce: “We found her! And we are so grateful. So amazing that we can thank Danielle in person. The power of social media demonstrated again!”
Danielle “had been worrying ever since about what happened to him and was really pleased to know that he was ok.”
The dad-of-two is back home and recovering at his home in Farnham, Surrey in the UK.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr O’Toole said: “It’s just amazing. I just want to talk to (Danielle) about why, about how, about what I can do to support what she did, and how more people can just not walk on by, which is what she didn’t do.”
