Stranger who saved my life is 'my guardian angel'

A woman who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on a bike ride said she owes her life to a stranger who stopped to give her CPR, despite having no first aid training.

Beverley Cox, 71, pulled over her car after noticing Sophie Caruth, 60, lying unconscious on a country lane in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, and kept her alive for 20 minutes before an air ambulance arrived and she was flown to the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI).

"Without Beverley, there is no question I would definitely be dead," she said. "She is my guardian angel."

After making a "miraculous" recovery, Mrs Caruth now wants more people in her village CPR-trained, and more defibrillators installed in remote areas.

Mrs Caruth said she had no prior health issues before 7 July 2024, when she decided to go out cycling with her husband, David.

"I had no warnings", she said.

"I got on a bike with David on that Sunday morning and decided to go to a very quiet lane where there would be no cars at all, I'm so lucky there was one there."

Mrs Caruth said the last thing she remembers is cycling up a hill, before she collapsed.

Mrs Cox, who was in her car with husband Chris, noticed someone lying on the side of the road and decided to stop.

"We saw David with his bike standing on quite a deserted country lane and his partner was just lying quite motionless on top of her bike, and we realised something was really wrong," she said.

"I called to Chris to phone the ambulance, then I realised Sophie had no pulse so we turned her over and started CPR.

"The woman on the switchboard was brilliant and kept me going."

The first thing Mrs Caruth remembers is waking up at the BRI.

After five days she was sent home, with no cardiac or brain damage.

"The CPR was done immediately and it was carried on and she didn't stop," she said.

Mrs Cox said she was anxious to know how Mrs Caruth was doing while she was being treated in hospital.

"As soon as Sophie was able to walk and was stronger, both of them came round to see us," she said.

"She brought me some flowers, and it was just really lovely to see her up and about and as healthy as she possibly could be."

Since her recovery Mrs Caruth has been working with a cardiac trainer from north Dorset, to get people in her village to learn the life-saving skill.

Hannah McClean, who runs Gold Hill CPR training, which is funded by the Shaftesbury charity Swans Trust, said: "Sophie and David put a very generous donation towards [the charity] which has enabled me to buy the equipment, the mannequins, and training defibrillators.

"Along with other donations, I'm able to go out into the community and offer those training sessions to people."

Mrs Caruth has also funded a defibrillator which has been installed next to their home in the village.

"Most of the defibrillators that are put in public places, tend to be in offices, shopping malls, town centres, they're not in residential areas and certainly not in a remote village," she said.

"They need to be in residential areas, it's far more important to have them there, and it's much rarer to have them there because it's not part of the planning regulation."

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