PENSIONER Fred Howson was today looking forward to an extra special Christmas - after being brought back to life TWICE following a heart attack.

Lucky Fred says he owes his life to the paramedics who refused to give up on him after he collapsed at home.

And he said today: "They're real heroes. Without them I wouldn't be here now."

The 73-year-old was putting up a Christmas tree at home in Trinity Street, Blackburn, when he was taken ill. He last had a heart attack 20 years ago.

Fred said: "I don't remember a thing about it. It's all just a blank. I was putting up the tree and the next thing I remember is waking up in hospital.

"I don't even know who the paramedics are but apparantly they've been in and out to ask how I'm doing. This Christmas will be very special now. I owe everything to those men."

His wife Maud , also 73, telephoned for an ambulance and buzzed for the warden of the sheltered accommodation.

She said: "He was unconscious and his eyes and head were rolling. "I was panicking but the paramedics talked me through what to do over the phone and I repeated it to the warden. They told us to get him on to the floor but he was in my armchair and we had an awful struggle. We managed to drag him by his feet.

"Luckily it was only a matter of minutes before they arrived."

A crew from Accrington attended as Blackburn ambulances were occupied elsewhere.

Almost the second they arrived Fred went into cardiac arrest.

Leading paramedic Chris Rowan, ambulance technician Colin Willis and technician Bernard Everett used defibrillators to shock his heart into a regular rhythm.

They managed to get a pulse, but had to shock him again when it suddenly stopped.

Mr Rowan said: "We were just there at the right time and everything fell right for him."

Fred was kept in intensive care at Blackburn Royal Infirmary overnight and transferred to Queen's Park Hospital. He hopes to return home on Thursday.

Maud added: "The ambulancemen were absolutely wonderful.

"They kept popping into the hospital to see how he was. I cannot thank them enough"

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