KEY POINTS:
Cyclist John Watkins has a message for the roadworker who saved his life.
"Ka pai te tangata nui [you did an awesome job]."
Todd Maihi was working at the intersection of Broadway and St Marks Rd in Newmarket when he saw the 65-year-old fall off his bike across the road. Mr Watkins had been heading to Newmarket from his Greenlane home but collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.
Mr Maihi and his workmates grabbed road cones from their work site and rushed to cordon off the fallen cyclist.
He moved Mr Watkins into the recovery position, before checking for a pulse. There was none.
Mr Maihi, who lost his brother to a heart attack a year ago despite his attempts to revive him, began steadily giving Mr Watkins CPR.
A doctor arrived but on seeing Mr Maihi's efforts, told him to keep going.
The ambulance crew gave the stricken cyclist shock treatment, immediately restarting his heart. The doctor told Mr Maihi his actions had saved the cyclist's life.
A humble Mr Maihi told the Herald he didn't want praise or recognition but Mr Watkins has vowed to track him down when he gets out of hospital.
"When I'm out of here I'll be calling him and giving him a dozen of beer, chocolates for the missus and that sort of thing. I owe you one bro. Kia kaha, kia ora, kia mana and I'll be in touch."
Mr Watkins phoned the Herald yesterday after reading about Mr Maihi's heroic efforts.
The last thing he remembers before he blacked out is waiting at traffic lights and "feeling funny". He then woke up in the ambulance and was told a roadworker had saved his life.
Three arteries in Mr Watkins' heart are partially blocked and he expects to undergo a double or triple bypass this morning.
He will also have a pacemaker inserted under his collar bone which will give his chest a jolt if he starts to go into cardiac arrest again and get it beating regularly.
Mr Watkins also had two cracked ribs from the CPR.
"I was a bit sore for a few days but I'm still alive so I'm not complaining," he said.
Mr Watkins, who retired from his job as a security attendant a day before the incident, cycles about 50km a week, so the heart problems were a shock.
However, his mother and grandfather both died in their 60s after heart attacks.
"But they told me that I'm in a better position to recover from this because I don't have high blood pressure or diabetes or high cholesterol. [My mother and grandfather] had all of these things ... and I've never smoked."
He hopes to be back on his bike by January.
