Thanks from the heart for St John

THANK YOU: Murray Hartley, of Lower Hutt, meets his St John saviours. James Sewell (left), Murray's wife Marie, Murray Hartley, his son Nathan, 15, and Nicky Scott.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A man who suffered a heart attack and within hours survived a cardiac arrest - which paramedics say is a rare feat - has thanked the St John Ambulance officers who saved his life.

Murray Hartley, from Lower Hutt, had no history of cardiac problems and felt "good as gold" on the morning of the attack.

The 59-year-old was at a Masterton drag racing event in early March with his wife, Marie, and 15-year-old son, Nathan.

Mr Hartley was going to get lunch when he felt pain in his chest.

He said it was like indigestion, but thought it odd, because he had not eaten.

When the discomfort did not go away he decided to "walk over and say hello" to the St John Ambulance, which was providing medical services at the motorsport event.

Paramedic Nicky Scott and volunteer James Sewell hooked Mr Hartley up to a machine and gave him medication.

Then Mr Hartley passed out and slipped off the stretcher on to the ambulance floor.

The medic team hoisted him up and realised it "probably wasn't indigestion".

They had to convince Mr Hartley, who was "adamant it was indigestion", to go to hospital.

Mr Hartley was taken to Wairarapa Hospital early that afternoon and at 7pm he suffered a cardiac arrest.

"I didn't know what was going on, when they stuck the pads on my chest I knew something was wrong. I remember thinking, am I going to survive this? Am I dying?"

Mr Hartley was transferred to Wellington Hospital in an ambulance and remained there five days.

"Our job is to think worst case scenario so we treated it like it was a cardiac event which turned out to be the right thing to do," Miss Scott said.

She said about 40 per cent of people who suffered a heart attack would have a cardiac arrest.

"Lots of people live through heart attacks but not cardiac arrests. Not many people survive to tell the tale."

Mr Hartley still has an erratic heartbeat but doctors say he will be fine. One month on from the scare, he is feeling "excellent".

The Hartley family met with the two St John officers on Friday to thank them for their life saving care.

Nathan gave each officer a framed photograph of his rare drag racing funny car with a message that read "thank you for helping dad, 7 March 2015, Nathan Hartley".

"Mr Hartley looked pretty sick, but it wasn't obvious he was having a heart attack," said Mr Sewell. "It's good to see a nice outcome."

St John territory manager Greg Cottrell said in the event of a heart attack, how quickly you sought medical care was vital.

"The right thing to do is call an ambulance. There's nothing better than sending someone away with nothing wrong."

"I'm glad I listened to my body," Mr Hartley said.

"I'm glad I walked over and said hello."