Reported by Clare McNeill

A man who was saved after suffering a cardiac arrest on a gym treadmill has said it's vital more people learn CPR.

Chris Hughes, of Barrhead, revealed how he is "lucky to be alive" after he collapsed during a warm down session after working out at PureGym in Paisley.

Staff member Andrew Fulton, rushed to the aid of the 53-year-old company director after he dropped to the floor and provided emergency first aid until an ambulance arrived.

To mark 'Restart a Heart Day', the pair have shared their experience, which took place in 2016, in a bid to urge more people to learn CPR.

Chris said: "It was a Friday night, I came straight from my work.

"I got into the gym about 6pm and I started my workout and I done about half an hour or so.

"I was on the treadmill and I was doing a sort of five to ten minute warm down and that's the last I remember.

"I had no recollection after that.

"I woke up briefly in the ambulance taking me to hospital, I could hear some sirens going and that was my first recollection of anything happening to me."

Andrew, 27, who was standing nearby, rushed to help Chris after he collapsed as another staff member called an ambulance.

He worked with an off-duty GP to keep Chris breathing while they waited for an emergency crew.

Andrew said: "Luckily enough, a female doctor came out of the changing rooms and jumped in.

"Between the two of us, myself doing the compressions and the defibrillator and the doctor working on the oxygen.

"It was just a case of keeping Chris alive until the paramedics arrived."

He added: "The last thing you think about working in a gym is you're going to be doing CPR that night.

"You can do all the training in the world but it's a very surreal experience to actually do it.

"It's one of those things - you never know when you're going to be needed to jump in."

Following his recovery, it took Chris a couple of days for him to realise how lucky he had been.

He was keen to trace those who help save his life and reached out to Andrew after finding him on social media.

Chris said: "I popped into see him just after it happened and my daughter managed to contact him on Facebook and thanked him for it.

"I don't know if thanks will ever be enough, you know, words.

"The greatest gift, I suppose, is to be alive.

"And for someone to actually keep you alive or bring you back, is just remarkable.

"It can be pretty emotional from time to time, it's just wonderful to know that people are out there willing to do that.

"It's part of this initiative, trying to get more and more people trained to save people like myself that drop to the floor."

The aim of the 'Restart a Heart Day' is to train as many people as possible in CPR so that more people have life-saving skills.

Chris added: "CPR brought me back. I'm alive today.

"I've now got a granddaughter that I wouldn't have seen had I perished that day.

"We need to get more people surviving.

"I've actually went myself to the CPR course and I've now been trained to train as well.

"I really think everyone should learn how to do it.

"Everyone should be able to do CPR and give people a chance like myself to survive and be with our families."