Radio star saves father's life

The George family is grateful their father is still in their lives. Pictured are (from left) David, Wayne, Christa and Andy George.

A Rotorua man is being hailed a hero after performing life-saving CPR on his father after he suffered a major heart attack in Australia.

More FM radio host Andy George and his family were on holiday in Queensland visiting his parents, former Rotorua residents Wayne and Christa George, when the drama unfolded.

Father and son went to the Gold Coast Rugby Sevens final last week and rang Mrs George after the match to pick them up from the Skilled Park stadium.

"We pretty much got into the car yelled, 'The Kiwis won,' and my Dad was slumped over making a funny sound. We knew straight away that he hadn't fallen asleep as he had just been talking," Andy said.

Mrs George pulled the vehicle over onto the side of the road and rang for an ambulance. Her son ripped the seatbelt off his father, pulled him onto the ground and started to perform CPR.

"It was a surreal situation, we were on a really busy road but I don't remember hearing a thing other than what I was doing," he said.

"I remember how blue he went and how fast as well and I kept saying to him, 'You're not going anywhere, Dad, I'm not letting you'."

A nurse passing in her car soon stopped to help, followed by a passing ambulance crew heading back to their base from another callout.

"[Dad] had to be shocked twice with a defibrillator but that brought him around. When they said, 'We got a pulse,' I just broke down," Andy said.

"All the emotions that I had held back just came crashing down."

Wayne underwent heart surgery and is recovering in the Gold Coast University Hospital. He taught First Aid and CPR in the Bay of Plenty before he and his wife moved to Australia just over a year ago.

Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post from his hospital bed, he said he was "very proud and extremely grateful" for his son's cool head and quick actions.

"When his children were born I decided to go through infancy CPR with him and during that process talked about what to do for adults. Lo and behold the skills he learnt saved my life," Mr George.

"The man is a lifesaver and an absolute legend. This also proves the value of learning CPR and everyone should be trained."

Both men said the help they received from the medical staff was outstanding and have vowed never to say a bad thing about Australians again.

"I've told Dad to hold his excitement when the Kiwi Sevens team win their next title," Andy said.