A WAR veteran from Huntingdon has thanked the St John Ambulance volunteers who bought him back to life after he collapsed at the Cenotaph in November. The volunteers gave him life-saving resuscitation at the annual Remembrance Day service in central Londo

A WAR veteran from Huntingdon has thanked the St John Ambulance volunteers who bought him back to life after he collapsed at the Cenotaph in November.

The volunteers gave him life-saving resuscitation at the annual Remembrance Day service in central London.

Ron Royston, 81, travelled to the St John Ambulance (London) headquarters at the end of May to personally thank the volunteers who revived him on November 13 last year.

Mr Royston, who joined the Fleet Air Arm in 1943 and served in Egypt, the Indian Ocean and South Africa, met Mark Herbage, Samantha Cooper, Lyndon Allen, Ben Lavender, Peter Rhodes, Dr David Skinner and Peter Dalton, who, as unpaid volunteers attended the service to provide first aid support.

Mr Royston was one of three RAF veterans who collapsed at the Cenotaph service, and who received immediate treatment from the trained volunteers.

He said: "As you can imagine, it was a really scary experience. My heart stopped beating and they brought me back to life. I cannot thank them enough for giving me another chance! Their resuscitation skills were second to none.

"I'm glad that I've been able to meet my rescuers and thank them in person. As volunteers, they provide an invaluable service and on that day, their skills and professionalism saved three lives."

As well as meeting those who resuscitated him, Mr Royston visited a class of students attending a four-day first aid course at the St John Ambulance London headquarters in York Street. He provided a living case study for the students and talked about why the skills they were learning are so important.

After the class, the veterans and first aiders visited the St John Ambulance national headquarters in St John's Lane, to meet a number of VIP guests, including, Professor Douglas Chamberlain, professor of resuscitation medicine at the University of Cardiff School of Medicine, Dr Michael Calquhoun - chairman of the UK Resuscitation Council, and Air Chief Marshal Sir David Cousins from the RAF Benevolent Fund.