Two engineers have been praised for performing life-saving CPR on a retired doctor.
The two UK Power Networks engineers, Leon Smith and Marco Fenoaltea, were working on a high-voltage cable near Teddington Lock when they heard shouting.
They quickly responded and found retired professor Trevor Hansel unconscious.
The retired professor at Imperial College London credits their quick actions and UK Power Networks’ commitment to safety training for saving his life.
Trevor explained: "It was a beautiful day on March 3, and after a short jog along the river path, I sat by the river at Teddington Lock to loosen a tight shoelace.
"By chance, my wife Jill was returning from tennis and joined me for a chat.
"I wasn’t particularly tired and had no chest pain.
"As I leant towards my shoe, I suddenly lost consciousness and was then out cold for five minutes."
Jill, a retired dentist, said: "I assumed he had fainted and placed him in the recovery position, shouting his name.
"Leon heard me, rushed over and told me he wasn’t breathing.
"We turned him on his back, Leon immediately started chest compressions and Marco fetched a defibrillator.
"After a few minutes of CPR, Trevor regained consciousness.
"It is amazing Leon and Marco were there that day, and they 100 per cent saved Trevor’s life.
"I was very lucky it happened where it did."
Nearly 5,000 employees hold first aid qualifications at UK Power Networks, including all operational employees working on the electricity network, and training is available to all employees.
Trevor said: "UK Power Networks can be proud of its policy of training its employees in CPR and is fortunate to have these two fantastic young men working for them."
Leon, from Bracknell, Berkshire, said: "We were in the right place at the right time, being in the middle of high voltage cable works, and had just switched off the circuits ready to issue the safety documents.
"Marco heard shouting under the bridge. Trevor was on the floor, with his wife Jill.
"He was breathing at that point but making funny noises.
"I knew from my training we needed to do something if he stopped breathing.
"Then Trevor stopped breathing, and I knew he had gone.
"I turned him over and started compressions and Marco shared our location with 999 and rushed off to get the defibrillator."
London Ambulance Service paramedics took Trevor to Kingston Hospital for testing.
He was later transferred to the Royal Brompton Hospital for a minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and insertion of a stent, to restore normal blood flow to his heart.
A few weeks later, Trevor and Jill were reunited with Leon and Marco, for a meal in Teddington where they thanked the two men and their partners.
Jill said: "Leon was very modest and embarrassed.
"It makes me want to cry thinking about what they did."
Trevor also wants to thank Leon and Marco, stressing how their actions in carrying out CPR saved his life, and is also grateful for the care provided at Kingston and the Royal Brompton Hospitals following a full recovery.
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