A man who collapsed in bed after suffering a cardiac arrest has issued a heartfelt thanks to the emergency services who battled to save him and ensure he celebrates Christmas with his family.

Alan Wishart, 70, had been sat in bed playing a Sudoku puzzle while his wife Avril watched TV.

But Mr Wishart then collapsed and stopped breathing.

Mr Wishart's son, Paul, who lives nearby, received a text to say something was wrong.

He quickly arrived and moved his dad onto the floor and started chest compressions, having had first aid training in the past.

Emergency services, including paramedics and firefighters, were quickly on scene and were able to carry out life-saving work before transporting the patient to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) where he eventually woke after five days with no memory of what had happened.

Following the emergency, back in September, Mr Wishart has made a full recovery and has recently met with ambulance service staff who helped save him at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust's (EEAST) Longwater Lane depot in Costessey to thank staff for what they did.

Mr Wishart, who is now back playing golf and Sudoku, said: "I will be able to have drink and celebrate with my family at Christmas thanks to these people - thank you all for what you did."

His son Paul said: "The whole family is hugely grateful and in admiration of the emergency services and what they did on the night, also the job they do day to day.

"Because of them we still have our dad/grandad with us."

Senior paramedic Simon Cross and Kate Nichols, senior emergency medical technician, were first on scene arriving within minutes of the 999 call coming in.

Specialist paramedic Tim Jones, critical care paramedic Neil Flowers and locality operations manager Rob Adams also were also dispatched to help.

Mr Cross said: "This is a great example of the chain of survival at work - the importance of early CPR, early response and early defibrillation. Paul was amazing and gave such good CPR. His actions are why we are all standing here today".