An Onchan man whose life was saved by NSC lifeguards and paramedics says he is eternally grateful.

Roy Higgins, 81, had been swimming at the NSC on 14 July when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

After spotting he was in difficulty, the pool side team were quick to respond and having assessed the situation and called 999, lifeguards used their training to perform CPR, before using a defibrillator to successfully restart his heart.

Roy recently returned to the NSC 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.’

The incident happened 15 days after the NSC reopened its swimming pools following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, and all pool side staff had recently undertaken resuscitation training.

Senior paramedic Sean Crellin, who responded to the 999 call, said: ’The NSC team did an incredible job and it is clear that they put into practice their regular first aid training.

’They correctly followed the defibrillator’s verbal instructions and promptly delivered three shocks to Roy, which resulted in his heart beating again.’

NSC general manager Carl Glover added: ’I’m extremely proud of the response of our staff and must pay credit to the exceptional lifeguard trainers who train them to the highest standards. We never want to see an incident like this, but it is credit to our staff and the paramedics that there has been such a positive outcome.

’We wish Roy all the best and were delighted to welcome him back with his wife Maureen this week.’

When CPR is combined with the use of a defibrillator in the first few minutes, a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest increases by up to 75 per cent.