A 75-year-old retired furniture maker whose heart stopped at the dentist's has been reunited with the ambulance team who helped save his life.

Sandy Williams, of Perry Street, Northfleet, collapsed in the reception area of a dental surgery in the town, and needed CPR along with four shocks from a defibrillator to restart his heart.

The initial treatment was provided by paramedic Joshua Robinson and ambulance technician Clare Harding who were backed up by critical care paramedic James Rickard and paramedic Martin Oliver.

Following his resuscitation, Sandy was fast-tracked to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

There, he spent more than three weeks in the intensive therapy unit and a further three weeks on the high dependency unit in the cardiac ward and was fitted with an internal defibrillator.

Almost a year on, Mr Williams has now thanked the crew who saved him.

He visited Thameside ambulance station in Northfleet with his daughter Linda Cahill and wife Mary to meet Joshua and Clare as well as emergency medical advisor Jennifer Smith.

Mr Williams said: “I’m just so grateful to be alive and be here. Everyone has been amazing, from the ambulance service right through all my treatment at hospital.

“I’ve always been a stubborn old sausage.

“It’s not been easy and my defibrillator has gone off once at night since, it definitely kicked in.

“I’m really glad I’ve been able to see everyone again to say thank you.”

"I’ve always been a stubborn old sausage" - Sandy Williams

Mrs Cahill said: “We really wanted to say thank you in person and my dad wanted to piece together the day and meet the amazing people who saved his life.

“It was lovely to see people and everyone involved will forever be in our hearts. We can’t praise them enough.”

Mrs Harding, said: “It’s been really nice to meet Sandy and his family in much better circumstances.

“As always, it was a real team effort to ensure he received the treatment he needed.

“On behalf of all my colleagues, it’s been a real pleasure to meet him and I’d like to wish him all the very best for the future.”