A WOMAN who suffered a cardiac arrest has thanked the paramedic from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) who helped save her life.

Ruth Boyes, 73, was at home in Leyburn with her husband David when she fell seriously ill.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) was initially called but on the way to hospital, Mrs Boyes stopped breathing.

She was resuscitated by the YAS crew, before the GNAAS paramedic and doctor team were called.

Mrs Boyes was then flown to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough where she stayed for three days and had a stent put in one of her arteries.

She said: “I just can’t express my gratitude to the paramedic which saved my life and then the crew that continued to keep me alive in the helicopter.

“I live in a rural area so I couldn’t have had better care. “Luckily only one artery was blocked, the rest looked pretty good for my age.”

Mrs Boyes recently visited the GNAAS base at Durham Tees Valley Airport and met helicopter paramedic Paul Burnage who treated her.

She said: “I am eternally grateful to both crews, I don’t think I would have made it if I had gone by road, it would have taken an hour and I was very, very ill.”