THIS is the amazing moment a Port Glasgow mum was reunited with the two hero nurses who saved her life after she suffered a cardiac arrest.

June Doherty and Suzanne Taylor, who worked together at Inverclyde Royal, sprung into action when mum-of-two Susan Connell collapsed in front of them after suffering a cardiac arrest during a keep fit class.

The dramatic scene unfolded in front of a stunned Clubbercise class in the Victorian Suite in Greenock on February 7.

The quick-thinking friends immediately rushed to Susan’s aid and began resuscitation, stabilising her until paramedics arrived.

Thanks to their actions, Susan is now on the road to recovery and tears flowed as she finally got the chance to meet the women who saved her life.

Susan, of Kinross Avenue, said: “I can’t thank June and Suzanne enough.

“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here.

“I feel lucky to be alive, as I could have been anywhere when I took the cardiac arrest.

“I could’ve been sleeping or driving.

“Thank God I was at the class.”

June and Suzanne say it was ‘very emotional’ to meet Susan.
June said: “We’re just so happy Susan is recovering well.

“It was a traumatic experience.

“When we go into work, we’re ready for that scenario but you don’t expect that outside of work at a fitness class with no equipment.

“But everything just kicked in and your instincts and adrenalin takes over.

“The scary thing is that we weren’t even going to go to the class that night because we had both been working that day and were really tired.”

Susan, who works in Greenock’s Tesco store, has no recollection of what happened that day but her friend Sharon Palmer says it’s something she’ll never forget.

Sharon told the Tele: “Myself, Susan and her eight-year-old granddaughter Mollie decided to go and we were only minutes into the class and still doing the warm-up when Susan hit the floor.

“I thought she had fallen over wee Mollie but she just lay there on the floor.

“As Susan had fallen forward she hit Suzanne, one of the nurses, and she fell too.

“Suzanne tried to get herself up and I tried to get Susan into the recovery position.

“Wee Mollie was screaming so I was trying to console her and kept telling her that her nanny would be ok.

“Suzanne and June then said they were nurses and asked everyone to move away.

“I took Mollie out the way and asked her to just look at me as I didn’t want her to see anything.”

Suzanne and June carried out CPR as they desperately tried to save Susan’s life.

Sharon, who also works in Tesco, added: “They must have been working on her for about 15 minutes.

“It was so unreal the way it happened.

“One minute we were laughing and joking and the next minute she collapsed.

“The paramedics had to use a defibrillator on her.

“They managed to pull her through and Susan started talking.

“Just at that moment her husband William walked in.

“We were trying to console her as she was a bit disorientated but me and William were both with her.

“I was comforted in the fact that she was awake and she knew our names.”

Susan was rushed to Inverclyde Royal Hospital and spent three weeks in hospital recovering and had to undergo surgery.

She said: “The doctors told me I’d had a cardiac arrest as my heart went into an abnormal rhythm due to a fault in my electrics.

“My arteries are fine, it’s down to the electrics.

“I now have a defibrillator fitted inside my body so that if it happens again then it will shock my heart back into the correct rhythm.

“I feel a lot better now.

“I’m still awfully tired but I’m better than I was.

“I can’t drive for six months and I’m not supposed to use my arm much as there are wee wires that connect it up to my heart - if I stretch my arm too much then it could take the wires out, so I have to be careful.”

Susan is now on a mission to raise enough money to buy a defibrillator and campaigning for more of them to be installed in public places throughout the area.

She said: “There should be defibrillators in public areas such sport centres, schools and community halls.

“They are so important in saving lives.

“If you could donate anything at all please do - it’s so important.”

So far Susan has raised £600.

She says she will forever be indebted to nurses Suzanne and June and everyone who helped her on the day.

She said: “I want to say a huge thank-you to the nurses and also the paramedics.

“I also want to say a big thanks to Sharon and everyone who helped out on the day, the staff at the IRH including those in the A&E and those in ward J.

“All the doctors and nurses gave me first class care and the staff at the Golden Jubilee Hospital were also amazing, especially in ward 2C and 2D.

“I also have to thank Lauren Hair from Pointe Perfect who took the Clubbercise class and is now doing a sponsored dance to help raise money.

“I must also thank everyone for the beautiful flowers and gifts and to everyone who has donated to my Justgiving page.”

Anyone who would like to donate to Susan’s fundraising page can do so online at donate money go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/susan-connell