Grandad thanks local scouts for 'saving my life'

The First Loftus Scouts were on a walk when they found John Allinson unconscious on the ground

A grandfather has thanked a local scout group for saving his life.

John Allinson, 53, from Loftus, East Cleveland, went for a walk in the Rosecroft wood area in June, but while on the phone to his wife he suddenly collapsed.

The First Loftus Scouts came across him while they were walking in the area and called for help.

After being reunited with the group, Mr Allinson said: "I owe you my life, because what you've done is amazing".

John Allinson says he could have died if the scouts had not found him

Mr Allinson, who had gone for a walk after receiving some bad news, said he did not remember much from the evening of 24 June.

"When it all came about, I heard that the scouts had actually found me in the field unconscious," he told BBC Radio Tees.

He described the youngsters as "totally amazing", and added had the group not found him it could have been fatal.

Mr Allinson said he hoped more young people would be inspired to join to learn life-saving skills.

'Phone went dead'

Scouts Niall, 13 and William,11, described what happened as "scary".

They said their scout hut had bees at the door, meaning they could not go in, so the group decided to go for a walk.

Dylan, 14, said they first saw Mr Allinson in the woods where he walked past them and greeted them nicely, but after a few minutes they saw him lying on the ground.

They then guided his wife, Joanne, to his location and called for an ambulance.

Tyler, 14, added: "We didn't know what to do at the start, but then once we saw that he wasn't ok we just clicked."

• BBC Sounds: Loftus scouts 'saved my life'

Mrs Allinson said she had been talking to her husband when the phone "went dead".

She said she could hear him but "he wasn't responding", then one of the scouts took his phone and directed her to him.

"I wouldn't have found John out there, it could've took hours and what they did was fantastic," she added.

Helen Tyreman, group leader, said she had never seen anything like it in her 28 years in scouting.

"It was fantastic to see everybody working together as one complete team," she added.