Football fan praises paramedic who saved his life

A 24-year-old football fan has praised the trainee paramedic who gave him CPR when he went into cardiac arrest.

Josh Moseley became ill in the stands watching Aston Villa's Europa Conference League match against Olympiakos on 2 May.

Fellow spectator Heidi Elliot jumped over seats to reach him and perform the life-saving treatment before a defibrillator and other medics arrived.

"I’ve never met anyone so amazing in my life," he said. "At the end of the day she saved my life," he said.

Josh Moseley said he shed tears when meeting Heidi Elliot after she saved his life

The pair were reunited on Monday at Villa's Bodymoor Heath training ground after the club invited them down to meet the players.

Josh, from Bloxwich, described the meeting as "very emotional".

"[It] brought me to tears at some points. Even just walking to the stadium, because the last time I went there I left in an ambulance," he said.

"Without Heidi keeping me alive with the CPR it might have been too late.

"I managed to be able to go home to my kids, my missus, without her it wouldn’t have happened."

The trainee East Midlands ambulance technician has been described as "an angel" by the Moseley family

The season ticket holder, who has two young daughters, described going to the game with his father and brothers.

He said he had felt "completely normal" in the hours before and remembered nothing of the incident.

"Olly Watkins scored and then I woke up in an ambulance," he said.

His father Jason Moseley, who lives in Tipton, also met Ms Elliot on Monday and said she was "an angel" and a "beautiful person".

He recalled seeing his son lying on the ground and, assuming he had fallen during goal celebrations, looking for blood.

"The next thing I remember was that a young lady in a little Villa top just appeared by me and said, 'I’m a paramedic, let me through, give me some space.'"

Jason Moseley described the trainee paramedic as "an angel"

Bewildered, it did not dawn on him his son might have suffered a cardiac arrest.

"The next thing I remember was them defibbing him... that’s when I sort of broke down. That was the first time I realised how serious it was," he said.

He remembered a police officer telling him "we've got him back".

"Even then it doesn’t compute that he’d basically died," he said.

He applauded trainee East Midlands ambulance technician Ms Elliot's courage. "Just having the strength of character to do that and take control was just unbelievable."

Lauren Wright, Josh's partner, described him as "strong and determined"

Josh, who was born with a heart condition and underwent surgery as a baby, said he was undergoing further tests to understand the cause of the incident.

Partner Lauren Wright said the family was now passionate about spreading awareness of CPR.

"I feel like everybody, it doesn’t matter who you are, needs to know CPR," she said.

"If you knew how do to CPR that's another life saved, potentially."

Josh hopes to team up with Ms Elliot to push training of the technique in organisations across the region.