Crewe family searches for Farmhouse Beefeater hero

Dave Holland said he would have died if the man had not come to his aid

A man is searching for an "angel" who saved his life when he choked on a steak at a restaurant.

David Holland, from Crewe, said he'd taken his children to The Farmhouse Beefeater on Coppenhall Lane as a birthday treat for his son.

He said he remembered the meat sticking in his throat before blacking out.

His daughter, Charlotte, said a trained medic performed CPR on her dad but then disappeared. The family believes he would have died without the man's help.

Mr Holland said: "I remember just putting this piece of steak into my mouth and all of a sudden I thought 'oh dear' and just kept trying to swallow, swallow, swallow... nothing, then panic set in."

'Not now David'

The 56-year-old said he remembered being unable to speak and running towards the exit before falling unconscious.

"It started to go very hazy and blurry, and I kept saying to myself: 'Not now David, no, not now'," he said.

Charlotte said she called out for help and a man came forward and said: "I know what I'm doing, I'm a trained medic."

He then performed CPR and doctors later told the family Mr Holland had stopped breathing and his heart had stopped for more than four minutes.

He has not suffered any lasting damage from Sunday's events.

Charlotte said: "The hospital have said that without that CPR and oxygen from the mouth-to-mouth, dad would have had some kind of neurological damage."

She added she regrets not asking for the stranger's name and explained: "In the moment we weren't thinking of anyone but dad.

"He's basically an angel on earth, he's just disappeared."

The family asked the restaurant for help to track down their hero but it had no information since he did not book and paid in cash.

They have launched a Facebook appeal to find him.