A young woman from Kent has told how tube station staff saved her life after she collapsed on a platform.

They took her to a hospital themselves, carrying her into A&E, because it was feared an ambulance would take too long to arrive.

The 24-year-old from Ashford, called Olivia, who has a life-threatening medical condition, told of her recent brush with death during a phone-in on LBC yesterday.

She said she supports strikes being held this week by the RMT union over pay and conditions - and fears what might have happened if there had been no workers present.

Olivia said: "They really did save my life. It's so essential to make sure that these train guards and the staff are there.

"That wouldn't happen with driver-only trains and I agree with the strikes wholly because of that.

"They need the people there and they do such amazing job."

Olivia, who commutes to her job in London on the high speed train, had collapsed and fallen unconscious as she got off the tube at Baker Street station.

Within minutes the staff members came over, started performing first aid and called an ambulance.

Olivia has a rare condition called Addison's disease, which needs a lifesaving injection if she falls seriously ill.

Fearing an ambulance would take too long to arrive, the workers took Olivia themselves to a hospital, via two tube stops and then carrying her into the A&E.

Olivia explained that as a result of her condition she doesn't produce any adrenaline or cortisol, a steroid hormone.

It means if you're under extreme stress or ill your organs can shut down. In such a situation, called an adrenal crisis, emergency injection is needed to bring steroid levels back up.

Olivia had a male friend with her when she fell ill who explained her condition to tube staff while she was unconscious.

Olivia, who thanked the workers on air, told presenter Shelagh Fogarty: "I would have been terrified if that happened with a next stop being 20 minutes away and no train guard there.

"I was lucky I was on the tube so it only took a couple of minutes."

Olivia says she is now better but still a little shaken from her ordeal.

The NHS website says about 9,000 people in the UK have Addison's disease, with over 300 new cases diagnosed each year.

It can affect people of any age, although it's most common between the ages of 30 and 50 and more common in women than men.