COLIN Eccles died in the right place at the right time. But thanks to a quartet of Good Samaritans the 59 year-old Atherton man is now able to read all about it after three harrowing months!

Lucky-to-be-alive Colin's remarkable story began on Sunday, November 19 last year.

His grateful wife, Irene, chronicled events which started with a evening stroll but ended at Bolton Royal casualty unit before he returned to their Lovers Lane home.

Irene told The Journal: "At 9pm on November 15 Colin went for a walk along Wigan Road after leaving me at a friend's.

"We understand he collapsed and hit his head on the edge of the kerb. Chris Jones saw him and went for help and Lorraine Jones and Jimmy Hunt came to assist. He went for paramedic David Mills who lives nearby.

"Colin had a broken nose and cheek bone, he had no pulse and wasn't breathing so David gave him heart massage until ambulancemen Arthur Morris and Chris Lucas brought him back to life with electric shocks to his heart."

Half an hour after he'd collapsed and 'died' Colin was admitted to the emergency unit at Bolton Royal.

He had no identification on him and the pieces only started to come together for Irene when she phoned the Police after returning home at 11pm to find Colin missing.

She recalled: "They told us an unidentified man with head injuries was in hospital in Bolton. It turned out to be Colin. My son Michael and I charged up there to find they didn't give him much hope of survival as they couldn't stabilise his condition.

"We were horrified - it was such a shock. We hardly recognised him, his face was so badly swollen and bruised."

Their daughter Cath rushed from Lancaster to be with them at his bedside and Colin was admitted to the intensive care unit at 4pm on November 16. He remained there for three weeks.

Mrs Eccles said: "It was touch and go for a month. He was so poorly we stayed with him most of the time and sometimes overnight."

Miraculously Mr Eccles began to respond to the special care.

"I can't say how much the wonderful staff in the intensive care unit mean to us all - Claire, Fiona, Ann, Carl and Denise, and of course, all the doctors."

Colin, who seven years ago suffered a slight heart attack, recovered enough to come out of ICU but spent a further month in Bolton Royal then went to Manchester Royal's Heart Unit for a further month.

At Manchester he had a multi-thousand pound operation to implant a defribrilator.

A relived Irene (pictured with Colin) said: "Now he's home and getting stronger everyday. We'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped while he was so poorly. They were wonderful. We all know he's so lucky to be alive.

"We are so grateful."

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