'I died for five minutes - she saved my life': Villa fan who collapsed at match meets CPR 'angel'

He was given vital CPR by Heidi Elliott, who clambered over seats in order to reach him in the lower tier of the Holte End.

The pair met properly for the first time on Monday when Josh returned to the stadium for the Premier League match against Liverpool, just 11 days on from the terrifying ordeal.

The father-of-two described Heidi as his “guardian angel” and said: “Going back to Villa Park brought me to tears. The last time I was there, I left in an ambulance.

“It was amazing meeting Heidi. I told her there really are no words to explain what she has done.

“She saved my life. How many times can you say 'thank you'? It is never going to be enough.

“My kids, my partner, my mom, my dad would have lost me. By her actions she made sure it was not the case.”

Josh, who sits on the Holte End together with dad Jason and brothers Ethan and Tom, suffered a ventricular fibrillation which caused his heart to stop beating.

He remembers nothing of the incident, which occurred just before half-time during Villa’s Europa Conference League semi-final clash with Olympiacos on May 2.

He explained: “I went and met my dad before the game, as we always do.

“I went into the ground, put my bets on, like I always do. I went and had a beer, was singing and what have you.

“We were watching the game and after 20 minutes Villa were 2-0 down and I am thinking: ‘For God’s sake’.

“Then Ollie Watkins scored. I remember him scoring, how he scored, everything.

“Then I don’t remember anything. I woke up in an ambulance. I basically died for five minutes.”

Heidi, an ambulance technician and trainee paramedic from Leicestershire who also has a season ticket in the Holte End, clambered over seats to reach him and began to administer CPR before medical staff arrived with a defibrillator.

Josh said: “She recognised straight away what was happening. Apparently she just came out of nowhere, like my guardian angel. She kept me going until the medical staff got there and gave me a defib.

“I didn’t have a pulse. I wasn’t breathing. I was stone cold dead.

“It’s scary. I am only 24. I have two little girls at home who are one-and-a-half and three months old. There is my partner Lauren too.

“You can imagine what that would have done. I am just grateful Heidi is in this world and was there at that particular moment, like it was all meant to happen.”

Heidi was invited to Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground to meet the squad in recognition of her heroics, while the club also awarded her a complimentary season ticket.

More than £1,000 raised through a GoFundMe page set up by Josh’s partner, Lauren, will be donated to charity.

Josh said: “Heidi doesn’t want any gratitude for what she has done. She is a very humble human being and I am so glad there are people like her in the world.

“She told me she just did what anyone else would do. And yes, maybe you should think like that - but a lot of people don’t. They just stand there and watch.

“She took it upon herself, scrambled over those seats to help.

“I just think it is amazing. In a crowd of people, with all the emotion and the panic. My dad was screaming and crying his eyes out.

“With all those people there, she just came out of nowhere and was so calm.”

Josh is now back at home recovering with his family, including daughters Frances and Margot, after spending a week at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital where he was fitted with a mini-defibrillator.

He is undergoing further tests to determine what caused the ventricular fibrillation but most of all is desperate to tell people the importance of learning CPR.

He said: “Everyone in my family now wants to learn it. It saved my life.

“What scared me the most is how normal I felt. I had no chest pain, nothing.

“I would have never known, unless someone would have told me, that I was about to have a cardiac arrest.

“I want people to understand how important CPR is and how quickly someone who is loved can be taken away from you.

“I can’t explain what I think of Heidi and what she has done for me, my children, my partner, my dad and my mom and everyone. God knows what it would have been like if I had not pulled through.

“I find myself going to bed at night now and thinking: ‘What the hell?’ I just went to a football match.

“I didn’t expect this. I didn’t want this. But I am still here. That is the main thing and it is all down to Heidi. I am just thankful someone sent her to save me.”