A shop assistant saved the life of a pensioner who had a heart attack while shopping in Cribbs Causeway.

Val Laing was working a normal shift in Marks & Spencer’s when a 75-year-old man collapsed in the food hall.

But when the 47-year-old, from Thornbury, rushed to help, she realised his heart had stopped. Val, who had volunteered to be a trained first aider at the store, immediately began chest compressions and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until he gasped for breath about five minutes later.

She kept him calm with the help of another nurse who was passing by until paramedics arrived on the scene. He was taken to British Royal Infirmary by ambulance where he had an emergency operation and he is now reported to be on the mend.

Val, a former army nurse, said: “It was about 4pm and I was in the food hall. There is a few of us first aiders in the store. We carry mobiles around with us just in case. It is usually just a minor injury – like a cut finger.

“I got a call on my mobile saying someone had collapsed, so I picked up my first aid bag and went over to where he had fallen.

“There were a few people crowded round him. He was slumped down and totally purple. Another first aider was with me and I told her to dial 999 because he wasn’t breathing.

“When she got through, I had already started CPR and was giving him mouth-to-mouth and 30 chest compressions.”

Mrs Laing said she just focused on reviving the pensioner who had gone into cardiac arrest.

“I just knew I had to do something before it was too late,” she explained. “I was on my second round of CPR when he gasped for breath. A trained nurse was there and she helped me keep him calm because he started fighting back. She monitored his pulse while we waited for oxygen. After the ambulance arrived, I carried on working. Staff were coming up to me afterwards saying ‘I don’t know how you did it!’”

Store manager Simon Lucas said: “It’s important to Marks and Spencer that we have first aiders in the store. “We were pleased to be able to help and wish our customer a full and speedy recovery.”

Cribbs Causeway spokesman Sarah King added: “We have 28 trained first aiders in The Mall but stores like M&S have their own staff.

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Source: This is Bristol