by Lewis Dyson

A football team boss rushed to save the life of a 60-year-old man who had collapsed near a beach and swallowed 70% of his tongue.

David Warren, of Vaughn Drive, Sittingbourne, performed CPR on Roger White, from Gravesend, after he suffered a cardiac arrest in Leysdown.

Mr Warren, who was walking along the beach nearby on Sunday at around 3pm, was trained in the technique through his role as chairman of Milton and Fulston FC football club in Sittingbourne.

The 47-year-old said: “I had just been out for a walk along the beach with my wife, just enjoying the sunshine and watching the world go by. I heard a woman shouting for help.”

Along with his wife Alison, 41, he climbed a grass bank near the miniature golf course, off Leysdown Road.

He said: “I could see straight away that someone had collapsed on the ground. My first thought was that he had tripped over and hurt himself.

“He was not breathing and he had swallowed about 70% of his tongue.

“The first thing I did was get his tongue out of his airway and got him prepared for CPR, got his airways open and probably at that point another chap turned up by the name of Bob.”

“Fortunately we both knew what we were doing.”

The two men managed to get Mr White breathing again, which took several minutes.

"i could see straight away that someone had collapsed on the ground... he was not breathing and he had swallowed about 70% of his tongue.
" – david warren, who saved a man's life

The father of two children and one stepdaughter said: “We kept him breathing and he was quite lucid. His breathing was irregular but that did improve in time.

“The biggest problem was that it took 30 minutes for the ambulance to get there because we were right down on the beach.”

The ambulance were then able to give him oxygen until an air ambulance arrived. The helicopter then took the patient to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, which has a specialist cardiac unit.

Mr Warren, who works for a heating company in London, has been involved with Kent County League side Milton and Fulston FC for nearly 15 years.

He said: “You have to know a certain level of emergency first aid, but this is the first time I have had to use it for something like this.
“I hope he makes a full recovery.”

The ill man was later understood to have been transferred to Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford.