VIDEO: Pensioner pays emotional tribute to LIVES responders who saved his life after heart attack

Cliff Middleton, 73, was only around half a mile from the family home when he went into cardiac arrest and “dropped to the ground”.

He says he is “one of the lucky ones” after a bystander dialled 999 and LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) responders were first on the scene.

The Lincolnshire charity, made up of dedicated volunteers and paramedics, managed to save Cliff’s life with the use of CPR and a defibrillator.

Cliff said: “The thing about cardiac arrest is it’s not just about the people who suffer it but also about their loved ones.

“LIVES saved my life not just for me, but also for my family. I do get emotional about that.

“The great thing about the charity is it’s based in the county, so they were here really quickly.”

It was also a traumatic experience for Cliff’s wife of 46 years, Lucille.

She said: “Cliff said he would be home by 6.30pm and by the time it got to 7pm, I just knew something wasn’t right.

“I got in the car to try and find him, I thought he would be limping home or something.

“But he was nowhere to be seen, and of course it was dark by then. I had no idea where he was.

“I’m so pleased that everything was dealt with swiftly and successfully.”

Cliff is raising awareness of LIVES and urging anyone with out knowledge of CPR to

He said: “Bystanders helped but even though they were intelligent and practical people they didn’t know anything about CPR.

“They probably wouldn’t have been able to keep me going until LIVES arrived.

“It’s important for people to learn CPR so more people like me will survive hugely life-threatening situations.

“So many people who go through this die, so I am one of the lucky ones, really.”

To ensure more people in Lincolnshire learn life-saving CPR, LIVES are running sessions throughout the year with the aim to teach as many people as possible how to save a life.

Sadly only 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and the faster help can be obtained, the better the chance of survival.

To find out further information contact [email protected] or call 01507 525 999.