A WOMAN has praised the manager of a Wirral restaurant after he "saved" her mum's life by performing CPR when she suffered a respiratory arrest.

80-year-old Diane Morgan, from Heswall, was out with her friends for Christmas lunch in December at The Manor in Greasby.

After walking to the front door of the pub, staff found her not breathing and grey on the floor.

General manager, James McAdam, who was the first aider on site at the time, realised the situation was "quite serious" so called 999.

Speaking to the Globe he said: "Another retired nurse was there helping me at the time. 

"Emergency services said we needed to start CPR so my assistant manager Ryan went to find a defibrillator.

"He was gone for around 15 minutes as he had to look in four or five different locations in the area to find one.

"The adrenalin of the situation just kicks in. I do refresher courses on first aid every two years but this was the first time I'd ever had to do CPR on a person."

Chester and District Standard: Diane and manager JamesDiane and manager James (Image: Sarah Morgan)

Soon after paramedics arrived, Diane was taken to Arrowe Park. She was still unconscious at this point.

Diane's daughter, Sarah Morgan, visited The Manor that evening to let James and the team know her mum was alert and talking. 

Sarah said: "They saved her and if they didn’t do what they did, I wouldn’t have my mum today.

"I am eternally grateful for them, they gave me my mum and I've been able to have time with her. Otherwise, I could've lost her just before Christmas."

Diane and James meet...

On Saturday (January 27) Sarah took her mum to see James for the first time since the incident.

Sarah added: "It was really emotional from both sides.

"My mum was really scared about going in case there were any nasty memories, but there wasn't and it was great."

James explained: "It was great to see her, we were both really happy to see each other. It was quite emotional too."

The day after the incident James got a defibrillator on site, which was easy to locate.

He also moved a first aid course sooner so they could train more of their staff.

He said: "It’s so important, everyone should have first aid training.

"When something happens most people are just looking around seeing if anyone can help. People faint, have a funny turn, and you need to be trained and know what to do so you can remain calm and deal with it."