Yorkshire nurse praised for saving man's life after he collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest at a Parkrun

Doncaster Royal Infirmary research nurse Nicola Wilkinson was running at Sandall Park's Parkrun in the town on January 22 when the 55-year-old man fell ill.

The former intensive care unit nurse had just finished the race herself when she noticed a crowd gathered around him and went over to help.

Some of the runners believed he was OK yet Ms Wilkinson realised the situation was potentially fatal and began CPR.

“I could tell he wasn’t fine. He had no output pulse at all. I said to the people around me I need a defibrillator, scissors and I need anyone else who can do CPR.”

Luckily a doctor from the same hospital, David Langford, was also at the Parkrun and helped her.

The patient had suffered a cardiac arrest and they managed to detect a pulse after using the defibrillator.

“The park runners were amazing. They had made a curtain of respect around the man for his dignity.”

After he had been taken to hospital, Ms Wilkinson was messaged by a colleague from A&E who told her she had saved the man's life.

“I just snapped into action. I was just relieved more than anything that the patient got back to A&E,

“I don't feel like I’ve done anything extraordinary, as a nurse I’ve been trained to do that. If I see someone in distress I can’t just walk away. I’ll always try to help and fix the situation,”

Ms Wilkinson is also an England running coach and has now been in touch with the man, who has since made a full recovery and has suggeted a run together.

“I said I’m not sure I want to do another Parkrun with you - you need time to recover!”

Since the incident, Sandall Park Parkrun has raised £2,000 towards the purchase of a second defibrillator for the park.