A MAN brought back to life by a group of striking firefighters after he collapsed outside their station has thanked his rescuers face to face.

Mike Johnson, 49, had just finished playing a game of football when he suffered a massive heart attack outside Darlington fire station last month.

Mr Johnson, who had no history of heart trouble, was in a critical condition and at one point his heart stopped beating.

If it was not for the quick actions of a group of firemen who were outside the station on strike, then he would almost certainly have died.

They used a defibrillator to shock his heart back into action and administered oxygen and CPR until an ambulance arrived to take Mr Johnson to James Cook Hospital, Middlesbrough.

After being put into an induced coma, undergoing heart surgery and spending several days recovering in hospital, he is back in action and today (Monday, December 20) met his rescuers for the first time.

He said: “I was actually quite nervous about meeting them, but they are a great set of lads.

“It is nice to come out here and see them because I had no recollection of what happened until they told me.”

Mr Johnson, an architectural technician for Darlington Borough Council, is well aware that had he collapsed anywhere else, he may not have survived.

“You don’t want it to end up being political, but these guys put their lives on the line all the time and they deserve all the recognition they can get; at the end of the day if they weren’t there, I wouldn’t be here.”

He also intends to visit the paramedics who assisted that day to thank them personally.

Firefighter David Johnson said it was nice to meet Mr Johnson because normally the crew do not know how people have fared after incidents.

He said the rescue was unique because he and his colleague were not working that day and had to act on impulse with no briefing or warning of what to expect.

His colleague David Parker added: “It is nice for Mike to come down and nice to think that our actions on the day, and my small personal actions, have allowed Mike to have a Christmas with his family.

“It is a nice outcome to it all.”

Phil Innis, district manager for the County Durham and Darlington Fire Service, has recommended all six firefighters for commendations and are they are likely to receive them in February.