Man reunited with lifeguards who saved his life

Dave Francis, 64, wanted to meet the lifeguards who saved him after he suddenly collapsed at Rutland Water

A man who suffered a heart attack during a family day out at a water park has been reunited with the lifeguards who saved him.

Water sports enthusiast Dave Francis was at the aqua park at Rutland Water in Oakham in May when he suddenly collapsed.

His wife watched on from the shore as the lifeguards, aged 17, and their duty manager sprung into action to give the 64-year-old CPR.

On Friday, Mr Francis, from Surrey, was reunited with the life-saving duo to thank them.

Mr Francis's wife Sheryl had seen him collapse as he took part in the water park activities with his niece and nephew and called for help.

"One minute I was having a brilliant day enjoying the obstacles, and the next thing I remember is waking up with ear defenders on in the air ambulance," Mr Francis said.

Lifeguards George Pollard and Reuben Hutchinson alongside duty manager Nathan Liptrot, had acted fast to give Mr Francis CPR.

It was Mr Pollard's first day as a lifeguard and Mr Hutchinson's second shift, while the water park had only been open for a few days.

The park partially closed to give the lifeguards and paramedics space to treat Mr Francis.

Aqua Park manager, Charlotte Bambrick, then worked with them to continue trying to save him, using CPR and a defibrillator, for more than 20 minutes, the park organisers said.

George Pollard (right) and his colleague Reuben Hutchinson had only recently joined the team

Mr Francis was recovering well after a short stay in Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital and surgery.

After the "dramatic" events of that day, the lifeguards had wondered what happened to Mr Francis and wanted to see him again, prompting the park owners to arrange Friday's meeting.

Mr Francis said: "I’ll forever be grateful to George, Reuben, Nathan and Charlotte, they are heroes in my eyes, and I’m so pleased to be able to express my gratitude to them in person.

"I must also thank the East Midlands Air Ambulance, the paramedics, doctors and nurses, who continued the work to save my life."

He added that he was fortunate he could not remember the experience and that he hoped to do something to help others who might find themselves in the same position.

Mr Francis's family was told he was "lucky" to have had the heart attack at the park, where there were trained lifeguards and a defibrillator.

The young lifeguards and their managers, Nathan Liptrot and Charlotte Bambrick, met Mr Francis after his recovery

Ms Bambrick said: "Of course, looking back, it’s quite a dramatic situation, but we didn’t think about that during the event and simply tried our best to help save Dave’s life.

"Everything happened very suddenly, and we just followed our training plan, worked together, and tried to stay calm.

"It was quite emotional afterwards because, while we train for these scenarios, we don't expect them to actually happen."

East Midlands Air Ambulance praised Mr Pollard and Mr Hutchinson for being "lifesavers", saying the "outcome could have been a lot worse" without their training and the defibrillator.

"It shows how the right training and equipment can literally save lives," a spokesperson said.

"They should both be very proud of themselves and what they did that day."