FORMER army officer Brian Corrigan says he owes his life to the hero who performed crucial CPR after he collapsed in a Swindon park while exercising his puppy.

The 89-year-old found himself face down in the grass after suffering crippling chest pains while walking the six-month old Labrador Chewie in Lawns Park in March.

The alarm was raised by professional dog walker Carol Dyer, who managed to attract the attention of Andrew and Laura Spencer – out for a walk with their then two-month-old son Ethan.

Brian was struggling to breathe and his heartrate was irregular. Actuary Andrew, 33, performed chest compressions under the direction of a 999 call-handler.

Now former Royal Artillery officer Brian has come face-to-face with the person who helped save his life.

He said: “I owe my life to them.”

Andrew added: “It makes you happy to know that you’ve helped out. You just do what you have to at the time. The people on the phone were excellent. I don’t know who they were, but they were absolutely amazing.”

The emergency, at lunchtime on Monday, March 25, saw two ambulances and even Wiltshire Air Ambulance scrambled to the Old Town woods.

Brian had been taking Chewie for a walk when he began feeling unwell.

He said: “I felt a pain in my chest. I thought it was indigestion. I decided we’d walked enough and I was heading home.

“I was aware I couldn’t turn around to go home. The next thing I remember I was on the floor.

"There was a lady with me asking who I was and where I lived.”

When Brian collapsed, dog Chewie began running around his owner in ever more frantic circles. The dog’s behaviour alerted walker Carol, who managed to attract the attention of Andrew and Laura.

Andrew said: “I ran over and immediately it was clear things were not great. Brian was lying face down on the floor. He was breathing, but was really struggling to breathe. We spun him over and got through to the ambulance call handler who described what we should do.”

He performed chest compressions. Andrew wasn’t a complete stranger to the life-saving technique, having learned how to do baby CPR as part of pre-natal classes ahead of Ethan’s birth.

Andrew added: “We kept him going until the cavalry arrived. Ultimately, I think that’s what your job is when you find someone collapsed.”

When paramedics arrived they were able to rule out a heart attack or stroke, rushing him to A&E for further checks.

At hospital, tests showed one of the major arteries pumping blood away from the heart was restricted. Surgeons at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, fitted his heart with a new valve.

Andrew, who was due to go to the office later that afternoon, emailed his manager to say he would be working from home. Ethan, now four months, was said to have slept through the entire encounter.

On Friday, Andrew and his family met Brian and wife Frances.

His partner of more than 50 years told her husband: “You were blessed Brian to have Andrew there.”

Earlier this month, the Adver reported the reunion between Brian and saviour Carol Dyer.

“There were moments where I didn’t think he was going to survive,” she said.

“I’m just so pleased to see Brian standing and smiling.”

Brian told the Adver: “Had she not persisted who knows how serious it could have been.”

He has previously paid tribute to the paramedics who helped him: Henry Fielding, Sophie Weaver, George Richards and Christina Clifford.