A headteacher who had a defibrillator installed at his school fearing it would one day be needed by one of his pupils, had his life saved when he collapsed with a cardiac arrest.
Nick Sheeran fell seriously ill at Birkdale Primary School in Southport but within just 32 seconds one of the fellow teachers used the life-saving machine to restart his heart.
The staff had been trained by in how to use the defibrillator provided by Mark King, whose son Oliver died when his heart stopped in a swimming lesson in 2011.
Mr King has spent the last 11 years getting the machines put into schools after 12-year-old Oliver died at King David High School in Childwall, Liverpool.
Mr Sheeran is the 68th person to be successfully treated with a defibrillator provided by the Oliver King Foundation.
Today Mr Sheeran returned to his beloved school to see the children, seven months after that fateful day.
Deputy head teacher David Jessop told reporters: "There was a sense of positiveness about the whole situation.
"There was no negative, there was no 'what's going to happen'. It's only afterwards that you realise the gravity of [it]."
Teacher Naomi Williams said it was "emotional" to see Mr Sheeran on his return.
"He comes in and he's back to his usual self and it was nice to see the children's reaction. They've missed him," she said.
The foundation has placed more than 6,000 defibrillators in schools and organisations across the UK since 2012, with the government pledging to install them in all schools by the summer.
Mr King, had been at the school to see Mr Sheeran return, and said it was "very emotional".
He said he was "ecstatic" that a defibrillator the foundation had provided "was there to save his life".
"The kids love him, he's been well missed because he's a massive personality in this school.
"He's like our Ollie, people just warmed to him."
Mr Sheeran said: "I'm the luckiest head teacher on the planet and so grateful to everyone and the part that they played in saving my life.
"I'm raring to go."
The Mirror has been campaigning for a law requiring the machines’ availability at locations such as sports grounds and public buildings.
Over 30,000 people suffer cardiac arrests outside hospital every year in the UK, and just one in 10 of them survives.
Public defibrillators, which deliver a shock to restart the heart, are used in less than a tenth of cases, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Using a defib within five minutes raises the chance of survival by over 40%, research shows.
The Government has vowed to put defibrillators in all state schools by June this year.
