I don't recall chasing thief, says heart attack victim

Alannah Bolt recovers at home with her father Neil. Photo / APN

Although 21-year-old Alannah Bolt does not remember the day she chased a shoplifter and collapsed from a heart attack, her family and colleagues will never forget it.

The Masterton Farmers womenswear sales consultant and a colleague pursued a shoplifter, who had stolen a $190 handbag and was later apprehended and fined, out of the store and down a lane on October 26.

Ms Bolt collapsed from a heart attack at the end of the lane, and off-duty St John volunteer Cheryl Cavanagh, who had only performed CPR on training dummies, stepped in to treat her while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

"I have no idea what actually happened, so I don't really know what made me chase the shoplifter. I guess I'm just not afraid and I've chased them before so this time was no different," Ms Bolt said.

Her mother Michelle, who also works at Farmers, was told what had happened, and rushed to her daughter's side.

"It was pretty terrifying seeing her just lying on the ground all blue."

Ms Bolt spent two weeks in hospital, the first two days in a coma, and woke up on her partner's birthday.

"I woke up on the Friday, on his birthday, so he was pretty happy about that, but I don't remember anything after the Saturday before I collapsed."

Now recovering at home and hoping to go back to work next month, Ms Bolt has to live with a defibrillator in her chest.

"It's there just in case it happens again, so if it does, the defibrillator will just kick-start her heart," her mother said.

Ms Bolt said the experience had made her more appreciative of life, which she planned to keep living to the full.

Mrs Bolt said Farmers had been supportive of the family.

"They've been really good, they put me and Alannah's dad, Neil, up at a motel in Wellington so we could be near her and we didn't have to worry about where we were going to stay," she said.

- APN