A DAD has been hailed a hero after saving the life of his son - with techniques he had seen on the telly.

Eric Robinson heard a thud and discovered 27-year-old Robert, who works as a physics teacher at Birchwood High School, collapsed on his bedroom floor after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Granddad Eric, aged 63, immediately flew into action and managed to keep him alive.

He had never been to a first aid class and simply used CPR procedures he had watched emergency crews perform on television.

Dad-of-four Eric, from Runcorn, said: “When I went in, he was taking his last breath, what I call a ‘death breath’. I’d heard it before when my mother and my wife’s mother died.

“I lay him flat on the floor and started CPR.

“I knew I just had to keep on going, feeding the brain with oxygen, just pumping and pumping and pumping.

“I’m always getting shouted at for watching rapid response and real emergency programmes.

“I just picked it up from there.”

Eric continued with CPR for 15 minutes and worked with paramedics until Robert was stable enough to be taken to hospital.

He suffered another cardiac arrest at Warrington Hospital and was in a coma for 36 hours before being transferred to the Liverpool Chest and Heart Hospital where he had a personal defibrillator fitted.

This will reactivate his heart if it stops again and he now hopes to return to work soon.

Specialists suspect he may have Long QT Syndrome and the whole family is now being tested.

His brother, Gary ran the Liverpool Marathon and raised £1,000 to thank staff at the critical care unit in Warrington Hospital for looking after him.

The 38-year-old said: “We are so grateful to the nurses and doctors.

“Specialists said dad’s CPR kept him alive.

“He’s an old fashioned dad. He knows how to fix cars, do electric repairs, DIY and save lives.”

E-mail garyrobinson@castuk.comto make a donation.