A HERO nurse has been thanked after saving the life of a 79-year-old woman.

Katrina Kay was with her daughter Jenna McCarthy at Buzz Bingo in Blackburn when the pair noticed Margaret Halleron was unwell.

Quick-thinking Katrina, who works as a nurse at Lancashire Care Foundation Trust, knew something was seriously wrong when she checked out Ms Halleron.

Realising Ms Halleron had suffered a cardiac arrest, Katrina was quickly called into action, with Katrina’s daughter putting Ms Halleron into the recovery position before Katrina gave her CPR.

And she kept doing this and managed to get a pulse and paramedics arrived and took her by ambulance to A&E at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Now more than two weeks after the incident on the evening of Thursday, January 17, Ms Halleron is fit and healthy and back at home in Blackburn after leaving the hospital on Saturday.

Katrina, 52, from Blackburn, said: “I was at the bingo hall with my daughter and she noticed that Margaret was looking very unwell.

“So we went over and asked her daughter Trisha if everything was okay but Margaret was completely unresponsive.

“My daughter Jenna, who is a health care assistant at Royal Blackburn Hospital, then put Margaret into the recovery position, while I carried out CPR and was able to get a pulse.

“A few minutes later the paramedics then came and she was taken by ambulance to hospital.

“She’s now left the hospital and is back home again and well.”

Katrina said her and her daughter have been thanked for their efforts by Ms Halleron’s family, including by Ms Halleron’s daughter Trisha, an old school friend of Katrina’s.

She added: “The family have have thanked me with a card and flowers and chocolates.

“It was a scary experience but I just had to blank everything out and focus on the job in hand.

Ms Halleron’s daughter, Trisha Halleron, from Blackburn, said: “We can’t thank Katrina and her daughter enough.

“My mum has had a pacemaker fitter but she’s near enough fully recovered.

“They’re real lifesavers."