A HEART attack victim has thanked the gym staff whose quick-thinking likely saved his life.

Asthma sufferer Colin Lash, 68, attends weekly sessions at the Eastbourne Sports Complex, in Darlington, after being advised by his doctor to sign up for cardiac rehabilitation classes.

But he began to feel unwell during a session and collapsed whilst sitting in the gym’s foyer trying to recover.

Luckily for Mr Lash, Move More staff Jonathan Lavelle and Hannah Hornby, both 22, put their life-saving skills into practice, administering CPR, attaching a defibrillator and acting on instructions from the ambulance service.

Paramedics arrived within seven minutes and took Mr Lash to hospital where he spent two days on a drip after it was confirmed he had suffered a heart attack.

Mr Lash wanted to thank the gym staff and feels lucky that they were there.

He said: “Apparently my blood pressure was really low and my pulse had dropped. If it had happened on the street I could have died. They could have saved my life and they deserve some recognition for what they did.”

Mr Lavelle, of Guisborough, realised the severity of the situation when he first went to check up on Mr Lash.

He said: “I realised his speech was slurred, he was clammy and sweating and his lips were a strange colour – you could tell he wasn’t right.”

Ms Hornby, of Darlington, said it was at that point their first aid training served them well.

She said: “At first it was a bit like, ‘oh my life what is happening!’, but then you just kind of click and think this is what we have learned, this is what we do and you go through the steps.

“When you think about it afterwards you realise how serious the situation was. If we had not been there, if he had started walking home and got a couple of minutes down the road, we would not have been there to help.

“It just seems a bit surreal, it isn’t something you think you would be doing that day as you walk to work.”

Vicky Grant, training co-ordinator at the council-run complex, said she was ‘over the moon’ that the first aid courses paid off.

Sports complex manager Paul Foreman added: “I was pleased first of all that Colin is now fine and I was pleased with how the staff dealt with the situation so efficiently and effectively.

“They responded really quickly and it sounds like Colin is fit again and will continue with the sessions.”