Three years after being taken ill, a heart attack victim got the chance to thank the ambulance crew who saved her life.

Margaret Beckwith had just started the day serving her first customer at the Co-op when she collapsed to the floor.

Ambulance technician Karen Nicholas and emergency care support worker Katrina Ellis were called to the store in The Parade, Sittingbourne.

After putting her in the back of the ambulance an ECG revealed she was having a heart attack. The 71-year-old said: “I could hardly believe it as I had no pain in my chest.

“I had been having pain just before that in my left arm and had seen my doctor.

“I was due to go to the local hospital that day to have an x-ray but instead I ended up in the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford having a stent put in straight away.”

The mum-of-two was particularly memorable patient for the South East Coast Ambulance staff.

Katrina recalls: “Margaret was our very first case using the high priority system that had just started taking heart attack patients to the specialist heart treatment centre at the William Harvey.

“We had been able to use the new telemetry system on-board our ambulance to send Margaret’s ECG reading straight to a cardiologist there who told us to bring her straight in as a priority.”

On arrival Margaret was rushed into theatre to have the stent fitted followed by another six days later.

She spent just eight days in hospital and was able to return to work continuing with the part-time job she loved for another year before retiring.

After writing in at the beginning of this year to say thank you, Margaret and her two sons, Steve and Alex, were invited to Sittingbourne ambulance station to meet her two rescuers earlier this month.

Another good result from the day was Margaret had her last cigarette that morning before the attack and has not smoked since.

Steve added: “On behalf of the whole family, we would like to thank everyone for helping our mum to continue and enjoy life, albeit now at a slightly slower pace.”

Both Karen and Katrina still work in the area and have both since begun training as paramedics.