A MAN and his wife have given their heartfelt thanks to the St John Ambulance volunteers who saved his life when he suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing.

Ray Marriott, collapsed at Bearsted and Thurnham Carnival and Fete. But fortunately for the 67-year-old grandfather of seven, a team of St John Ambulance volunteers fund-raising at the event were on the scene within seconds - giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to keep him alive until an ambulance arrived.

The St John Ambulance Maidstone Division, based in Church Street, Maidstone, were at the fete fund-raising and providing medical cover.

Paramedic Julie Bryant from Maidstone, was one of the first to administer first aid. She said: "It was pretty hard work but we just kept going.”

Her colleague Peter Thurley, 33, a purchasing manager for the Metropolitan Police who lives in Rochester, said: "When we got there, Ray was being resuscitated by an off-duty paramedic and a district nurse who just happened to be nearby, and Julie was doing the breathing.

"There is only a limited amount of time you can live when you have a heart attack because the brain needs oxygen to survive and Ray cut it quite fine. We kept him going until the ambulance arrived and they used a defibrillator to start his heart, which thankfully worked.

"It felt amazing when we found out he was going to be ok. It was a privilege to save his life."

Katherine Harrington, of Borough Green, who has been a St John volunteer for only two months, drove the family to Maidstone Hospital, where Mr Marriott was taken when the ambulance arrived after eight minutes.

She said: "I was really surprised that he made it. There were times when I thought we might lose him."

Mr Marriott, a retired carpenter from Whitehead Lane, Bearsted, was at the fete with his wife, Britt, sons Ralph and Kim and their wives, Michelle and Lynette, and two grandchildren. He collapsed shortly after they arrived on Bearsted village green.

Mrs Marriott said it was a combination of excellent training and sheer good luck that saved her husband, who is hoping to leave hospital this weekend.