A shop assistant saved the life of a pensioner who had a heart attack while shopping in Cribbs Causeway.

Val Laing was working a normal shift in Marks and Spencer's last Thursday when a 75-year-old man collapsed in the food hall at about 4pm.

But when the 47-year-old, from Thornbury, rushed to help, she realised his heart had stopped.

Val, who had volunteered to be a trained first aider at the store, immediately began chest compressions and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until he gasped for breath about five minutes later.

She kept him calm with the help of another nurse who was passing by until paramedics arrived on the scene.

He was taken to British Royal Infirmary by ambulance where he had an emergency operation and he is now reported to be on the mend.

Val, a former army nurse, said: "It was about 4pm and I was in the food hall. There is a few of us first aiders in the store. We carry mobiles around with us just in case. It is usually just a minor injury – like a cut finger.

"I got a call on my mobile saying someone had collapsed, so I picked up my first aid bag and went over to where he had fallen.

"There were a few people crowded round him. He was slumped down and totally purple.

"Another first aider was with me and I told her to dial 999 because he wasn't breathing.

"When she got through, I had already started CPR and was giving him mouth-to-mouth and 30 chest compressions."

Mrs Laing said she just focused on reviving the pensioner who had gone into cardiac arrest.

"I just knew I had to do something before it was too late," she explained. "I was on my second round of CPR when he gasped for breath.

"A trained nurse was there and she helped me keep him calm because he started fighting back. She monitored his pulse while we waited for oxygen.

"After the ambulance arrived, I carried on working.

"Staff were coming up to me afterwards saying 'I don't know how you did it!'"

The Great Western Ambulance Service and bosses at The Mall and Marks and Spencer all praised Mrs Laing.

Store manager Simon Lucas said: "It's important to Marks and Spencer that we have first aiders in the store.

"We were pleased to be able to help and wish our customer a full and speedy recovery."

Cribbs Causeway spokesman Sarah King added: "We have 28 trained first aiders in The Mall but stores like M&S have their own staff.

"Two first aiders went to help on the scene, but when they got there Mrs Laing had everything under control so their help was not required.

"She was absolutely brilliant. We are pleased the gentleman is making a full recovery.

"I can confirm that trained first aiders get paid an extra 10p per hour to be on call."

Danny Hopkins of Great Western Air Ambulance said rapid response crews had arrived to help the patient, who was taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary for primary angioplasty – a keyhole procedure where blocked arteries are cleared using a small balloon.

He was then taken straight into the catheter labs for treatment.

Mr Hopkins said: "The efforts of bystanders buys us time to get there and do what we need to do.

"They were carrying out CPR prior to our arrival.

"The patient was taken to the BRI and it was a success story."

Mrs Laing's husband Richard, 50, said: "What she did was beyond the call of duty."

Mrs Laing added: "I would love to meet him and am so pleased he is OK.

"If he wants to come into the store, that would be great. I was glad to be there for him."

St John Ambulance spokesman for the South West, Nicola Blaker, said they did not have a problem recruiting voluntary first aiders.

However, she said companies often use a financial incentive to encourage their staff to take a first aid course.

"Some individuals donate the money back to us," she said. "Most of the companies in the South West come to us for all of their first aid requirements.

"For us, it is fantastic that this is actually working. It is the norm for companies to encourage employees to go on first aid courses.

"But we wouldn't say it is a good idea for people to do first aid for the wrong reasons. People should do it because they want to – not for a financial incentive.

"But we're so pleased to hear a man's life was saved because of that system, so it does work.

"It possibly would encourage more first aiders if they were paid more than 10p, but we wouldn't recommend it."

There are 1,463 volunteers trained by the St John's Ambulance in the South West.

Anyone who wants to volunteer should call 0117 953 3880.