A grandfather-of-five has told how he collapsed with a heart attack and almost died on a shopping aisle in Aldi.
Father-of-three Joe Peden, 61, has shared his story to thank the store manager and an off-duty A&E consultant for saving his life - together with customers and passers-by who raised the alarm and rushed to get a defibrillator. Joe said the store manager, who he knows only as Jason, performed CPR on him for eight long minutes on the aisle floor by his trolley.
The A&E consultant from Wythenshawe, who Joe said was in the store shopping at the time, then took over for a further four minutes before he was shocked three times with the defibrillator.
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Speaking from hospital as he prepared to be discharged home, Joe, from Sale, Trafford, told the Manchester Evening News: "These people saved my life. Total strangers stepped forward and saved my life. I was exceptionally lucky.
"They stuck at it and did not give up on me. I was dead for 12 minutes, by all intents and purposes."
The M.E.N. told how police and paramedics were called to the Aldi store on School Road in the centre of Sale at around 3pm on May 18 after Joe's collapse. A cordon was in place at the supermarket for more than two hours.
Married Joe is a well-known figure in Sale. A second Dan black belt in Judo, the retired software consultant coached at Sale Judo Club.
He also volunteered last year at Ukraine's border with Poland in the wake of the Russian invasion and has helped raise many tens of thousands of pounds for Ukraine, money which has gone towards the purchase of two ambulances, a van and vital supplies for the country's suffering people.
Joe, who had a cardiac arrest and a heart bypass aged 56, said he was on a ventilator in an induced coma at Wythenshawe Hospital for days and can't even remember going shopping to Aldi that day.
"I am much better now than I was," said Joe. "For the first 10 days I was on a ventilator in here. I was unconscious and in an induced coma. I had the Sacrament of the Sick and they did not think that I was going to make it. It did not look good.
"Performing CPR is exhausting. Jason, the manager at Aldi, did CPR on me for eight minutes. In the store behind me there was a consultant in A&E from Wythenshawe. He took over for the last four minutes and followed me down in the ambulance.
"Then they got a defibrillator from the precinct and shocked me three times with it. I have no memory of even going to Aldi. For me, I woke up in hospital last Friday and that is about as much as I know.
"I now have a defibrillator inserted under my skin in my left shoulder. It is a defibrillator slash pacemaker. If it detects any irregular heart beats it will shock me.
"I was on my own in Aldi. I had gone to do some shopping and that was it. I had made it to the bottom of the first aisle and had Babybels and Petit Filous yoghurts for the grandchildren in my trolley, apparently.
"But I can't remember anything. All I can remember is being compos mentis last Friday in hospital. I was dead for 12 minutes by all intents and purposes. There was no bright light and no tunnel.
"Jason spoke to my wife. Apparently I just collapsed and went down in the store next to my trolley. I just went down in the aisle next to the shopping trolley.
"The people in Aldi were absolutely bloody amazing. I want to thank them all. I was just a passenger in all of this."
Joe spoke out to hammer home the life-saving importance of knowing CPR and of readily-available defibrillators in public areas and large stores.
"It shows the importance of knowing CPR and of defibrillators," he said. "80 per cent of people who collapse in the street die because people do not know how to do CPR. I cannot stress how important learning CPR is."
Joe said he wanted to share his story to personally thank Jason the Aldi manager, the A&E consultant and everyone else who helped save his life.
He says he's planning on saying a personal thank-you. "These people saved my life, " he said. "Total strangers stepped forward and saved my life. I was exceptionally lucky.
"They stuck at it and did not give up on me. They kept going, kept working, until someone got the defibrillator. All stores should have defibrillators . All big stores should have in-store defibrillators."
Joe, who also thanked all those in his care at Wythenshawe Hospital, was discharged on Thursday night.
"I am sore at the minute," he said, "because they have put this thing in my shoulder.
"It is supposed to last for 10 years but I will be getting regular check-ups and I have a lot of tablets. But I am still here - and it's all thanks to those people who saved my life."
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