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A newly-wed couple have praised staff at their reception venue after they saved the life of one of their guests.
Sandra and Nigel King married at Minster Abbey and headed to Merlin’s in Leysdown for a party with around 150 friends and family afterwards.
During the evening, the bride’s brother Steven Knight surprised the pair with a Meat Loaf performance on stage.
But while he was singing and dancing at about 9pm, guests watched in horror as he collapsed with a heart attack.
The 56-year-old is in an induced coma in intensive care at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford but the family had good news yesterday morning that he had responded well after being woken up for a short time.
The grandad-of-six, who lives in London, had no problems anyone was aware of so it was out of the blue, but they have since found out he was suffering from heart disease.
Mrs King, of Alexandra Road, Sheerness, said the staff at the Leysdown Road nightspot were absolutely fantastic and three doormen carried out CPR on her brother, who had given her away at the service earlier in the day, and restarted his heart.
The 48-year-old said: “They were absolutely fantastic and so professional.
“[Owners] Lee and Tommy [Dunne] took charge of everything – I can’t thank them enough.
“They moved people out and put a screen up and all the staff came out and sat with relatives and made tea.
“The hospital said if it wasn’t for what the staff did he wouldn’t have made it. They saved his life" - Sandra King
“The hospital said if it wasn’t for what the staff did he wouldn’t have made it. They saved his life.
“It was awful – I’m still numb.”
However, because of the ambulances and police, who turned up to close the road for emergency access, mum-of-two Mrs King said there were rumours going round there was a huge fight there, so she wants to put the record straight about what happened.
Mrs Dunne said: “We are so proud of every single one of our staff.
“We have never had a situation like this but everyone knew what to do. We wish Mr Knight a speedy recovery.”
