A MAN has told of the role a Malpas nurse played in helping save not only his life, but also his twin brother's too.

James Bagby, 47, a solicitor from Wrexham was brought back to life after suffering a cardiac arrest while out running in North Wales.

When consultant preventative cardiologist Dr Scott Murray, now practicing at Venturi Cardiology, an independent heart clinic in Warrington, heard he had an identical twin brother, Jon, he asked to see him too.

He carried out a series of tests, including a CT scan of the heart, which allows doctors to see if disease is present, which revealed that he had an identical blood vessel issue as his brother.

James was out running in North Wales while on holiday but after running up a hill, he collapsed at the side of the road after running up a hill on a hot day.

But James says his initial cardiac arrest could have led to a far worse outcome if it was not for the role of Charlotte Hayward, a trainee at the time, who was able to give him life-saving CPR.

He said: " I was incredibly lucky because Charlotte Haywood, a trainee nurse at the time from Malpas, just happened to be heading home after camping overnight on the beach with some friends when she recognised I was in serious difficulty.

“My breathing was very shallow by this stage and then I suddenly stopped breathing altogether. She knew what to do. While she carried out emergency CPR, one of her friends called for help.

“Paramedics defibrillated me and got my heart going then an air ambulance flew me to Bangor Hospital where I spent two days in an induced coma."

He spent two days in a coma at Bangor Hospital before he was transferred to Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital and into the care of Dr Scott Murray.

This led to tests that showed he and twin bother Jon were at high risk of cardiac arrest.

He added: "It turns out that Jon and I both share a faulty gene that can’t handle bad cholesterol very well, which results in a build-up of plaque in the arteries, and that he was equally at risk of a cardiac arrest, which could happen at any time.

“His ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol level was very high, at 8 – anything above 3 mmol/L often leads to statins being recommended – and there was a 51 per cent plaque blockage in his arteries, similar to my levels, and putting him at high risk of restrictive blood flow to the heart, which increases the risk of a heart attack.

"He had no symptoms.

“What I had gone through was bad enough, but hearing that my twin was equally at risk of the same thing happening to him was dreadful."