'I saved the life of someone else's husband'

A woman who saved a man having a cardiac arrest in a high street street has met him - revealing she learnt CPR after her own husband's heart bypass operation.

Pia Abbott had been on her way to drop off cushions to be reupholstered when she saw Jo Quigley collapse in King's Heath, Birmingham, on 11 September.

"I initially thought he was drunk, but then when I got a bit closer I saw 'this chap's in difficulty'," she said.

She directed others to call 999 and reassure Jo, while she performed CPR for 20 minutes herself until ambulance crews arrived.

"I wanted him to know there were people with him and that should the worst happen, he wouldn't die alone," she said.

Once paramedics arrived, they told her to continue until a defibrillator was ready.

After Jo received a second electric shock, the colour began to come back to his cheeks, and Pia said she started to feel optimistic that he would make it.

"The whole of Kings Heath must have heard. I was shouting 'he's pinking!'" she said.

"I thought, well I couldn't save my husband but I could save someone else's."

Pia 's husband Stephen died two years ago, at the age of 78 - the same age as Jo - after years of heart-related issues and other health problems.

She paid tribute to "two angels" for learning CPR - Stephen and the actor Vinnie Jones, who fronted an advert showing people how to do chest compressions to the tune of Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees.

Jo was taken to Birmigham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Pia said she did not expect to hear from him again.

However, after a three-week stay in hospital, he was discharged earlier this month and was determined to track down the person who had saved him.

A witness had told him incorrectly that she was an off-duty doctor.

His wife Andrea and her daughter Eva scoured social media and even contacted local GP surgeries to ask if any of their staff were responsible.

But, after an appeal on BBC Radio WM, the pair were reunited.

"You look a bit better than the last time I saw you!" Pia told Jo.

After exchanging gifts and hugs, she revealed that she was not a doctor, but volunteered at the same hospital where Jo was treated.

"I just make the teas and coffees, really," she told him.

Following the experience, the Resuscitation Services team at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS trust organised a Restart the Heart Day.

On Wednesday, it held workshops on CPR and using a defibrillator at the Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands and Good Hope hospitals.

"CPR is hugely important. It is the one things where you will either live or you'll die," Pia said.

"You can live with a broken arm for several hours but CPR is life or death."

Among those taking part in training was Jo's wife Andrea.

Jo, who is recovering well, was also there to meet the team and said: "Pia reacted so quickly. She saved my life and I'll always be grateful."