A man who suffered a cardiac arrest while swimming at the National Sports Centre (NSC) has returned to the pool to thank the lifeguards and paramedics who saved his life.

Roy Higgins, 81 and from Onchan, had been swimming at the NSC on July 14 when he suddenly became ill.

After spotting a swimmer was in difficulty, the pool side team were quick to respond.

Having assessed the situation and called 999, lifeguards used their training to perform CPR, before using a defibrillator to successfully restart his heart.

Roy returned to the NSC this week to thank the people who saved his life.

He said: ’It was really fantastic to meet the guardians of my life. Hopefully they are as pleased with the outcome as I am. I’m in awe of everyone involved and this is a very emotional time. I’d like to give my eternal gratitude to the full team, without their training and actions I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.’

Pieter De Bruin, who used the defibrillator, said: ’I have been training with this equipment for 15 years, but this was the first time I’ve needed to use it for real.

’It was an amazing feeling to bring someone back to life and it was very emotional to see Roy again and meet his wife. They were both extremely thankful that we saved his life.’