Last week they were recognised with a Public Commendation Award by West Midlands Ambulance Service who praised them for their “quick thinking and calmness under pressure.”    Collecting the award on behalf of the team was 21-year-old Swimming Teacher, Amelia Cooper, who is also a student paramedic.

Chase Leisure Centre is managed by a charity, Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles (IHL) on behalf of the council.  Neil Hutchinson, Managing Director of IHL, said: “We are extremely proud of all the employees who played a role in saving this man’s life.

“They carried out all the emergency procedures we have in place for a situation like this calmly and effectively.

“This award is a wonderful recognition of the professionalism and quick thinking all staff at the leisure centre showed on the day.”

At the awards ceremony West Midland’s Ambulance Service said “the staff were the main individuals that saved this man’s life. Without their fast actions and use of a defibrillator the outcome would have been very different.”

Head of Service for IHL, Lynn Illidge said: “We’re delighted that all the staff involved have been recognized by this award. They’re a credit to us all. This type of incident is something we train for but something that we hope we will never need to carry out and we are so very grateful that the gentleman involved is now on the road to recovery and back in the leisure centre as part of his recuperation.”