Sheffield student seeks stranger who saved her life after street collapse

Alisha Brown was walking to a lecture in Sheffield when she suffered a blood clot to her lung which stopped her heart.

She was resuscitated by paramedics after a stranger, who spotted her fall to the ground, phoned for an ambulance.

Miss Brown, 20, said: “I don’t remember much about the incident, but I’m sure if it wasn’t for him [the stranger] I would have been dead on the floor.

“I had tonsillitis that day, so nearly stayed in my room, but something made me go out – I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t.”

Miss Brown attempted to phone her mum and grandmother when she collapsed, but was losing consciousness when a man took her mobile from her, briefly explained what had happened to her relatives and phoned for an ambulance.

Shortly after paramedics arrived she suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated.

Upon arrival at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital doctors discovered a blood clot in her lung and she was admitted to the intensive care unit, where she remained a week.

After spending two further weeks on a general ward Miss Brown was discharged, but will now be on blood-thinning medication for the rest of her life to prevent another clot.

She said: “There were no warning signs – I just collapsed. As a healthy, active and young person I didn’t expect it.

“It was a frightening experience for me as well as my mum and nan on the other end of the phone.

“I missed some exams while in hospital, which I had to resit, but things could have been much worse.

“For a while it was a bit of a blur, so it’s only sunk in now all that man did for me.

“Without him I wouldn’t be here.”

Having spent the summer recovering at home in Leeds, Alisha has returned to university in Sheffield and is eager to find the man who helped her to express her gratitude.