'I'm proud my CPR helped save a stranger's life on Cardiff street'

A passer-by who saved the life of a stranger having a cardiac arrest in the street has said he is "overjoyed" to hear the man survived.

Aneurin Metcalfe spotted Bobby Gamlin slumped in a plant pot as he returned from a post office trip in Cardiff.

He and girlfriend Lauren Smith lowered the 55-year-old onto the pavement and rolled him onto his back to begin CPR.

"I was focused on keeping going and not giving up, his life was depending on it," said father Mr Metcalfe, 22.

"That gave me determination that I had to keep going. With the adrenalin pumping through my body I was focused on one thing."

The family of Mr Gamlin had appealed for the "brave hero" to come forward so they could thank him for keeping him alive until paramedics arrived.

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They had been told to expect the worst and Mr Gamlin's sister Mary Taylor believes her brother "wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him keeping the blood around his body until the ambulance arrived".

Mr Metcalfe has since met some of Mr Gamlin's family and is hoping to meet the father-of-one and grandfather-of-two once he has recovered.

"I cannot express how overwhelmed and overjoyed I am to see he is alive and making a full recovery," Mr Metcalfe said.

"It makes me feel proud.

Mr Gamlin, who has one son Robert, is set to be moved from intensive care

"Had it not been for Torfaen Sea Cadets giving me my first aid training at the age of 15, I would not have been able to give Bobby the help he needed."

Mr Gamlin had been shopping on Albany Road in the Roath area of Cardiff with a friend on 11 February when he started feeling dizzy.

As he went to sit down on a bench, he collapsed - dad-of-one Mr Metcalfe knew something was wrong as soon as he saw Mr Gamlin in distress.

Mr Gamlin - pictured with his late partner - had been out shopping

"When I checked his pulse I knew he was fading fast and it was clear he was having some sort of heart attack," he said.

"It all happened so fast. When you're in that situation you have no time to think about what is going on."

As Mr Metcalfe began CPR on the busy city street, a crowd gathered.

"They were saying, 'You can do it keep on going!'" he recalled.

When the ambulance arrived the paramedics took over.

"I thought, 'Is this man going to pull through? Is he going to make it? It makes you ask, 'Is this person going to survive?'" said the builders yard assistant from Roath.

Mr Gamlin's family, including sisters Mary, Teresa and Julie, had feared the worst

Campaigners at the charity Welsh Hearts want CPR training to be "mandatory" in schools.

"Hundreds of lives could be saved in Wales each year if students were taught CPR from a young age," said Welsh Hearts director Sharon Owen.

"CPR needs to be taught universally to significantly improve survival rates and to avoid inequalities between communities by ensuring there are lifesavers on every street corner, in schools and every workplace."

The Welsh Government said as part of the new schools, teachers can teach health and well-being topics such as first aid

"We have worked closely with partners, including the British Heart Foundation, in developing guidance and will continue to work with experts in this field as we refine the curriculum," said a government spokeswoman.