'If someone told me you could die doing an exercise you loved, I'd have been surprised - then it almost happened to me'

George Davies was a passionate marathon runner, but after one training session he was left feeling lucky to be alive.

Twenty years ago, George was out with a group of fellow athletes on a training run before suddenly collapsing amid a heart attack. Doctors saved his life that day, discovering he had a ventricular tachycardia (VT), which is an abnormal heart rhythm.

“I was fit and thought I was incredibly healthy at the time. If someone had told me that you could die from a heart problem, by doing exercise that you loved – I’d have been very surprised. I never expected a heart attack to happen to me," George explained.

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Now George is helping Manchester schoolchildren to learn CPR techniques at the first event of its kind in the city.

“I was incredibly lucky doctors managed to save me then and I’m still incredibly lucky to be alive,” says George. The 75-year-old from Darwen, was fitted with a device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which acts like a pacemaker but also shocks the heart, if needed.

His resilience meant he battled on with his condition for another 10 years. But eventually doctors told him there was nothing more they could do and unless he had a heart transplant - he would die.

After another touch and go experience, George went to the top of the transplant list at Wythenshawe Hospital. Nine years on, he is still enjoying life with a new heart.

Despite the terrifying near-death experience, George never lost his love for sport. He is a coach at Blackburn Harriers and Athletics Club.

But he warns that life-saving techniques should be taught in schools as heart complications can happen to anyone, including those