A hero neighbour who lost his own young son has been thanked for saving the life of a five-year-old boy.

Malcolm Dalton vowed "I'm not going to lose you as well" as he frantically tried to revive Daniel Satchell-Hicks after he collapsed at home.

The brave grandad also promised Daniel an ice cream if he woke up - which the youngster promptly asked for after recovering.

Mr Dalton was in bed asleep at his home in Manor Road, Rushenden, when he heard a commotion outside.

The youngster had suffered a seizure and was unresponsive in the bathroom of the family home with his terrified mum Gemma King.

She was desperately trying to revive him after she’d been made aware he was ill by daughter Courtney, seven.

Stepdad Tim Heasman then ran outside and pleaded for help from Mr Dalton as he knew he had a car in case they needed to rush the Queenborough Primary School pupil to hospital.

VIDEO: Hero Malcolm Dalton saves five-year-old Daniel's life

But unbeknown to the frantic family, the former builder was first-aid trained.

He raced round and ordered Ms King out of the bathroom so he could start CPR on Daniel, who had turned grey and had blue lips.

The 51-year-old lost his nine-year-old son Reece 11 years ago when he suffered a head injury while playing football.

He said: "I just got to work and was almost on autopilot, I kept saying to Daniel ‘come on, come on, I’m not going to lose you as well’."

"He's my hero because he saved me" - Daniel Satchell-Hicks

Lifelong Rushenden resident Mr Dalton says he was trying to resuscitate Daniel for about 10 minutes while waiting for an ambulance.

When medics and police arrived around 20 minutes after being called, Daniel had been stabilised and was put into an ambulance.

The grandad-of-11 was told by the police officers that he had undoubtedly saved the boy’s life.

Miss King said this was backed up by doctors at Medway Maritime Hospital, where Daniel was taken.

She said: “If it wasn’t for Malcolm, Daniel wouldn’t be here today.”

While Mr Dalton was trying to revive the keen cyclist, he promised him an ice cream "if he came back to us".

When the lad was recovering at Medway, he asked his mum who the man was who’d been "kissing him" and where his ice cream was.

After last Friday's drama, Miss King said she didn’t have the words to thank her neighbour.

Modest Mr Dalton played down the situation, saying people were being very nice to him but he’d done what others would have in his place.

Daniel was released from hospital on Sunday and is undergoing tests to see whether he is epileptic.

He'd previously suffered a similar episode in June when Courtney raised the alarm because he'd been sick in bed.

Asked what he thought of the man from down the road, he said: "He’s my hero because he saved me."