THE wife of a Barrow granddad has praised two men who miraculously managed to get his heart beating after he suffered a suspected heart attack in the middle of a bowls match.

Keith Wilson was playing at Barrow Island Bowls Club on a Monday when he suddenly collapsed.

Two of Mr Wilson’s fellow bowls players carried out CPR for six minutes until paramedics arrived.

Willa Wilson said her 77-year-old husband spent just short of two weeks in Furness General Hospital before being transferred to Blackpool Victoria Hospital on Sunday.

“They had to wait until they could stabilise him before he could be moved,” Mrs Wilson said.

“It’s a miracle he’s alive; I want to track down the two men who saved his life and thank them for what they did but I don’t have any contact details for them.”

Mr Wilson, who handed over his business Keith Wilson Electrical to his son Keith Junior after retiring, is a keen bowls and snooker player.

Mr Wilson’s best friend of 60 years, Bernie Walker, was playing bowls when his pal collapsed.

“We were playing against West Shore and getting beaten 6-5,” the 77-year-old said.

“Keith had bowled his last wood and started to walk across the green when he suddenly stopped for a bit and went bang on his face.

“I ran on the green to start chest compressions but one of the lads said he’d done CPR training at work and resuscitated him.”

Mr Walker said he ‘thought Keith had gone’.

He said: “It was really traumatic because we all thought he’d gone. And he had died, but they resuscitated him and brought him back to life.

“I had to come away and couldn’t watch them working on him because I thought that was it.

“I kept thinking of the number of years we’ve been friends.”

Robert McAloone, secretary of Barrow Island Community Sports Trust, said dad-of-three Mr Wilson was a ‘good servant’ to the club and its members all send their best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

“Keith’s done a lot for the club and is well-liked by everyone,” Mr McAloone said.

“We’ve actually been trying to raise the money to have a defibrillator installed at the club because this isn’t the first time this has happened so this happening to Keith has highlighted the need for one.

“I was told by someone who was there on the day when Keith fell ill that someone had to run all the way down the road to the Co-Op to get their defib.

“Keith’s a really friendly and chatty guy and we would like to wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.”

If anyone knows who the two life-savers are they can contact Amy Fenton on 01229 840116 to be put in touch with Mrs Wilson.