Cafe angels answer heart attack victim's prayer

Retired nurse Liz Davis receives a thank-you bouquet from John Miles, whose wife, Anne Miles, is recovering in hospital from a heart attack. Photo / Greg Bowker

When his wife had a heart attack in the car beside him John Miles ran for help, praying for a miracle.

And it might just have worked because along came two "angels" - in the form of 82-year-old Spanish student Liz Davis and cafe worker Jennifer Griffiths, 32.

"If it wasn't for them I'm afraid it would be a different situation,"said Mr Miles, a 74-year-old Briton.

Two weeks later his wife, Anne Miles, 70, is in the intensive care unit at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland but was up and about this week, eyeing up the cardiac ward.

After 51 "glorious" years of marriage, Mr Miles was very relieved and indebted to his helpers.

"She's one in a million, I just can't emphasise enough how grateful we are," he said.

But he admitted things might have to change at home. "I'm afraid, domestically, I'm last in the queue, I have got a lot to learn."

About midday two Thursdays ago, the Miles were driving down the Southern Motorway to Tauranga to visit their daughter Deborah. Mrs Miles had been feeling off-colour all day and when they pulled into the BP service centre south of Papakura, she suddenly slumped.

Mr Miles panicked and leaped from the vehicle.

His "angels" were inside the Autobahn cafeteria - one making coffee, the other drinking it - when he ran in calling for help.

"We went out there and it was nothing ... no breathing, no pulse," said Ms Griffiths, who had luckily done a first aid course three months ago.

"She [Mrs Miles] was still in the car so Liz did compressions from the front door and I did mouth-to-mouth from the back door."

Mrs Davis, who was once second in charge at a large accident clinic in Chester, England, confessed she had never actually done CPR in 30 years of nursing.

But both women knew they needed to keep it up until paramedics arrived.

"It's very important to maintain a steady rhythm," said Mrs Davis.

Mrs Miles - who doctors have since said was a "ticking time bomb" for a heart attack - was gasping every eight minutes or so.

Yesterday Mr Miles could not speak highly enough of the staff at Middlemore.

"We almost feel like part of a family in there," he said. "I'm sure they would do the job without pay they are that dedicated."

He also paid a special thanks to another bystander named Rosemary who phoned the ambulance on the day.