A GROUP of joggers – including a man from Horwich – helped save the life of a jogger who collapsed during a long distance run.

Gordon Stone was among a group of runners who used life-saving skills to save the fellow runner after he suffered a heart-attack during the annual Anglezarke Amble on Saturday morning.

The man, believed to be in his 60's, collapsed and stopped breathing at around 9.50am, eight miles into the 25 mile challenge near the A666 Blackburn Road north of Egerton.

Within minutes his fellow runners had stopped to help and performed CPR – cardiopulmonary resuscitation – to revive him and keep him safe before the emergency services arrived at the moorland spot.

Mr Stone, a runner of 30 years experience and member of the Horwich RMI Harriers, said: "I had been running with him five to ten minutes before the incident before he went ahead of me. I was on the path at the other side of the gully when I was shouted over by two other runners for help.

"There were around six or ten of us taking turns doing CPR to help him recover, it was very much a team effort.

"If he had been on his own, he would have died. When you are running out there you have to take care of each other. It shows how important it is for people to have first aid training."

Mr Stone also praised the efforts of a female runner who he credited for helping to organise the group to carry out CPR.

The group were joined in their efforts by 15-year-old Lancashire Army Cadet Connah Holden, from Darwen, who spotted the incident while driving past on the A666 with his dad Tom and came over to help perform CPR before paramedics arrived just after 10am.

Runners also helped North West Ambulance crews find a safe place to pull over and carry equipment to the scene.

The man, from Chipping, was later airlifted to Wythenshawe Hospital and was reported to be in a stable condition.

Congratulating the team of life-savers, a spokesperson from North West Ambulance Service said: “We would like to congratulate everyone who came to the assistance of the runner that morning, as without their courage and quick thinking actions the outcome could have been so very different, they are all truly life-savers.

“This incident demonstrates the perfect chain of survival and teamwork as the passers-by recognised that the runner was having a cardiac arrest, called 999 and commenced CPR until the ambulance crew arrived.

“We all have a responsibility to ensure that our loved ones and even strangers get the best chance of survival if they suddenly suffer a cardiac arrest and anyone can learn basic life-saving skills. If more people have the confidence to act in emergency situations, more lives will be saved.”

More than 300 walkers and runners take part in the popular annual Anglezarke Amble, organised by the West Lancashire Long Distance Walkers, which crosses the West Pennine Moors, taking in Rivington Pike and Winter Hill.