A dog walker has thanked an off-duty hospital worker for "saving his life" after his heart stopped for seven minutes following a cardiac arrest.

David Ridley, 79, collapsed near London Road, Rainham while out walking his pet last Tuesday morning.

He was spotted by Rhiannon Price, 30, who was driving to work at Medway Maritime Hospital, where she is a senior discharge liaison officer.

Rhiannon pulled over when she saw David lying in the middle of the road, and leapt into action.

She said: "It was clear that David was not in a good way when I arrived, but thanks to the help of some members of the public, we were safely able to carry out CPR, and also rescue his dog, Basil."

Rhiannon assessed the three priorities when dealing with a casualty – commonly referred to as ABC (airway, breathing, and circulation) – and with the help of passers-by and some quick thinking, she was able to call upon her life-saving training and performed CPR.

She said: "In the end, I performed CPR on David for almost seven minutes, and although it was tiring, the sheer adrenaline saw me through.

"I’m really grateful to our colleagues at South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) for arriving so quickly, and it was such a relief to see them.

"Overall, I’m just really pleased that I was in the right place at the right time and I was able to help.

"I feel really proud to work at this Trust which has given me the knowledge, skills and training to deal with a situation like this.

"I would encourage everybody to go out and learn CPR – it might seem like a daunting thing to do but the reality is you can literally save someone’s life.’’

David, who lives in Rainham, said: "Rhiannon is an angel – I definitely would not be here without her help and I am so grateful to her for saving my life."

Medway NHS Foundation Trust chief executive James Devine said: "Rhiannon’s actions were truly heroic and we are all incredibly proud of her efforts in performing life-saving CPR in such a challenging situation.

"We are delighted to hear that David has made a full recovery and returned home to be with his loved ones.’’

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