A heart attack victim who underwent a life-saving quadruple heart bypass operation has thanked the ambulance staff who saved his life.

Clifford Earl was out and about delivering leaflets when he began to feel unwell.

The 59-year-old recalled: “I got to the stage I was thinking if I continued to drive I’d cause an accident, and decided to stop by the side of the road and call 999 rather than try and get home.

“When I spoke with the emergency call operator I could tell from the way questions were being asked and the fact they kept me on the line that they were treating my call more seriously than I was expecting.”

Paramedic Alison Waterman, who was stationed close by in a single response vehicle, was on the scene within minutes of Mr Earl dialing 999.

She said: “When I first saw Clifford he was very pale and sweaty. Despite him saying he ‘would be all right’, it took some strong persuading to get him to sit in the back of my car so that I could take an ECG.

“As I had suspected, it showed he had suffered a heart attack, and I called for back-up.”

Technicians Niki Fox and Michele Harvey soon arrived, and with Alison monitoring his condition in the ambulance, Mr Earl was rushed to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham.

"I will be forever grateful to them” - Clifford Earl

Investigations revealed two of his arteries were blocked by as much as 97% on one side and 92% on the other. As a result he was transferred to a specialist unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London to undergo an operation.

The incident happened on April 29, but he was given the go-ahead by his doctor to go on holiday to Singapore just eight weeks later to celebrate his daughter Katherine’s engagement.

He said: “To be honest, I didn’t feel the excruciating pain I would have expected from a heart attack, but in the weeks before I had not been able to walk as fast as normal and also thought that I had been suffering with indigestion.”

Mr Earl, who works as a chimney sweeper, recently visited Sittingbourne ambulance station to thank the three paramedics in person for rushing to his aid.

“Thanks to Alison and her colleagues, I got to hospital just in time. I will be forever grateful to them,” he said.

Ms Waterman added: “It’s the first patient I have met afterwards in my 11-year career in the service, and it has meant a lot to me to see first-hand how the job we do makes a difference.”