A FATHER who suffered a cardiac arrest in his home has met the 999 call handler who helped save his life.

Adam Vali collapsed in his kitchen in Oswald Street, Blackburn, as he prepared to leave to London to attend a family wedding.

His daughter, Nasim Patel, rang 999 and was guided through performing CPR by the handler, Josh Hayes.

Within minutes paramedics arrived and took the 73-year-old to Royal Blackburn Hospital where he was put into intensive care.

Shiraj, Adam’s son, said the family attended a CPR training session and managed to contact Josh, who was invited to meet Adam and his family.

Shiraj said: “Josh was amazing, he was so calm and told my sister, who had some basic first aid training, how to perform CPR and keep him alive.

“When the paramedics arrived they said without Josh and my sister, the outcome may have been very different.

“My sister and her husband had just arrived to take my dad to a wedding in London.

“A few moments later he collapsed in front of my sister and brother-in-law.

“It was frightening, it's scary to see your family member turn like that.”

Call handlers work in an ambulance control room as part of a team.

They take essential details about the patients condition and location, before passing it onto an emergency medical dispatcher who makes decisions about how to handle the situation.

In extreme cases, they at have to talk to someone at the scene through an emergency procedure.

Josh met Adam with the help of the Lancashire Lifesavers campaign.

Nasim said she had taken a first aid training course 30 years ago but needed the guidance from Josh.

She said: “It was so fortunate my husband was there in the kitchen to stop my dad from falling.

“We had actually arrived late to the house so my dad was still at home, it could have been so different.

“I thank goodness everything was in place to help my dad.”

Josh said: “It was great to meet Adam and his family.

“I thought Nasim handled the call very well, she performed very well and it was crucial she acted promptly.

“I’m so glad this had a happy ending.”