A nurse and pensioner became unlikely friends after she saved his life in Newark.  P was 82 years old when he collapsed whilst walking along the River Trent towards the Roman Bridge in the town.  P said he ‘suddenly felt very odd’ before the incident.  

It is unclear how long P was on the ground, but at around midday, Eleanor Pike, a nurse at Kings Mill Hospital, was walking nearby with her partner and her dog when she saw a man on the ground.  The 29-year-old said, ‘We were just before the bridge, and I saw P.  Someone had put him in a recovery position and I could just see the back of his head and he had a nasty head wound. I had to get closer and make sure everything was ok and I assumed that P was alert and awake as nobody appeared to be panicking.  As we walked by I kind of looked down and realised there was no sign of life."

P stated, ‘I had died.’  Eleanor nodded in agreement, adding, ‘he was dead.  I immediately gave my bag to my partner, and I was in my off-duty normal clothes, but I started CPR.  I very quickly realized we were on the wrong side of the river for any cars’.  Whilst carrying out CPR, Eleanor was co-ordinating with the ambulance service, and a group of people had gathered concerned about P.  Eleanor continued ‘it’s very tiring doing CPR on your own, especially when you think you’re the only one who knows how to do it’.  She knew that there was a defibrillator nearby, and a man took over the CPR whilst Eleanor ran to get the device, but halfway there, she could hear the ambulance and so ran back to help as she knew the paramedics would have all the necessary equipment.

Eleanor helped the crew set up, and P started showing signs of life. She added, ‘Then I helped them make sure that P got to the ambulance okay with the crew, but he had nothing on him to suggest who he was. For two months, I didn’t know who he was or what happened.’

Weeks after the incident, Eleanor was still wondering about the man she had helped. Meanwhile, P wanted to track down the woman who saved him. It was only by chance that they were able to find each other, thanks to the help of some family and friends.

Eleanor explained that one day, ‘my mum’s friend was chatting to a couple at Newark Hospital, and it turned out to be P’s brother,’ so they passed on her details.  ‘P appeared at my door one day, and unfortunately, I was at work.  Then we met a few days later, and we had our photo taken together, and it was very emotional.’

P had left her a note with his contact details and also wrote at the bottom, ‘You saved my life—I want to thank you!’ He described the whole thing as ‘extraordinary’ and explained he is ‘eternally grateful’ to Eleanor for saving his life. He said, ‘It’s not often you see the person who resuscitated you; it's quite extraordinary. When I was in the hospital all that time, I wanted to find out who helped me.

The former antiques dealer, who is now 83 years old, explained meeting Eleanor was very ‘emotional’ and he was ‘weeping’. Following the incident in June, P spent four weeks at Lincoln Hospital but he has since returned to hospital four times for other health reasons.

He and Eleanor have made an unlikely friendship, and she has even given him lifts back from the hospital before. She added, ‘I try to ring him in the week and make sure he’s okay.’ They keep in touch and have regular catch-ups, and Eleanor says it’s ‘nice’ to hear about P’s life and his adventures.

Eleanor has been a nurse for over six years and is urging people to learn CPR or at least know the basics as you never know when you could help.  She shared, ‘I put it on Facebook to show how knowing CPR can make a difference, and it helped give P a little extra time on this earth.  I think everyone should be trained in it or at least know how to do it.  If I hadn’t initiated that process, I don’t think anyone would have.  It is very different doing CPR in hospital than next to the River Trent’.