Father reunites with stranger who performed life-saving CPR after suffering cardiac arrest during cricket match

A father whose heart stopped at least three times due to sudden cardiac arrest after playing cricket said the woman who administered almost half an hour of CPR and defibrillation is a “real angel”.

Muhammad Akhtar Hussain, who goes by Hussain, 40, a hospital administrator living in Luton, said he started feeling unwell with shoulder pain while playing for Bushey Cricket Club as a bowler at the Chipperfield Clarendon Cricket Club in Hertfordshire on May 3 2025.

While taking a break on the sidelines, Hussain said he met Laura Anderson, 50, a Disney travel planner from Hemel Hempstead, who was only stopping by at the match to drop off some letters.

As a St John Ambulance volunteer for more than three years, Laura assessed Hussain’s condition, including light-headedness and pain spreading through his upper body, as needing urgent attention.

But within minutes, Hussain collapsed and Laura said her training “kicked in” so she checked his airways, breathing, and circulation, before she commenced CPR and defibrillation for a total of 29 minutes until emergency services arrived.

During that time, Laura said Hussain stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated multiple times.

Hussain was then transported to Watford General Hospital, where he spent seven days and made a full recovery.

Hussain said he was thankful to still be alive for his wife, Tasmia Jahan, and his daughter, Madinah Hussain MadIha, who was five months old at the time.

Exactly a year after the incident, Hussain and Laura reunited on the same cricket pitch in Hertfordshire, where Hussain said he got “very emotional” and Laura added she would “cherish forever” the hug they shared.

Reflecting on the reunion, Laura told PA Real Life: “I cry at the opening of an envelope, so it was tough.

“I realised the enormity of it and the fact that it’s actually somebody’s dad and somebody’s husband.

“They gave me a card that said: ‘My daughter now says the word Papa – she wouldn’t have known this word if not for you’.”

Hussain added: “She has given me my life back.

“I was very happy to see her… it was very emotional.”

Laura said she first became a volunteer with the first aid charity St John Ambulance following the death of her father, Dave Anderson, in July 2014, who died due to complications from diabetes aged 67.

As part of this volunteer role, Laura regularly provides first aid at community events, like football matches, festivals and school fairs.

After her father’s death, Laura said she also joined Chipperfield Clarendon Cricket Club, where her father was an umpire, so that she could help “keep his memory alive”.

Along with her teenaged daughters, Laura played cricket, as well as being one of the club’s first aiders and secretary, which is why she came to be on the sidelines when Hussain’s cardiac arrest happened on May 3, 2025.

Laura was not due to be at the cricket club on the day of the incident on May 3 2025, but she decided to drop off some letters as the club’s secretary.

Soon after Laura arrived at the match against Hussain’s team, Bushey Cricket Club, one of the managers approached her and asked if she would have a look at a man who was coming off the pitch and complaining about pain in his shoulder.

Hussain told Laura that he thought he had hurt his shoulder while bowling and that the pain was travelling around his upper body, then revealed he felt light-headed too.

Laura urged him to go to hospital, but Hussain was reluctant so it was agreed his friend would take him.

As Hussain was packing up his things, he said he noticed he “had a lot of pain” and then the last thing he remembered was picking up a bottle of water and walking back over before he collapsed.

Laura said: “Suddenly, all the players out on the pitch were shouting ‘Laura, turn around!’ And I turned around and he was on the floor.

“I just remember shouting, ‘Get me the defib!’. I thought he was having a seizure at first, but then I realised he wasn’t breathing.

“Then (my training) just kicked in,” she added.

Laura checked his airways, breathing and circulation and then started CPR – consisting of 30 compressions and two rescue breaths per cycle – while she instructed people what to do, including calling an ambulance, fetching a defibrillator and clearing the area.

Over the course of 29 minutes, Laura issued one shock and got Hussain breathing again, before he stopped about 10 seconds later.

She gave him another shock and the same thing happened, so she gave him a third and said: “You’re not going on my watch.”

By this time, a helicopter arrived, then three ambulances and a police car, and Laura was able to hand over Hussain’s care to the paramedics.

Laura said: “I understand the ambulance had to shock him a couple of times as well, so I think he was (resuscitated) around four or five times in total.”

The first thing Hussain said he remembered was waking up and noticing the leaves falling from trees due to the wind produced by the helicopter.

After the ambulance left, Laura said the gravity of the situation “didn’t really hit” her properly until the next morning.

Hussain said: “When I went to hospital, everyone who heard the news about me was shocked because they said (cardiac arrest is) very rare to survive and come back from, unless you get proper medical (care).”

Over the course of seven days in hospital, Hussain said he had numerous tests, like angiograms and cholesterol-monitoring, but he is still not sure what caused his cardiac arrest.

For a year after the incident, Hussain was on blood thinning medication, and now he is on a cholesterol medication called atorvastatin and a beta blocker called bisoprolol to lower his blood pressure.

Hussain said: “I worry it could happen again, so sometimes I can have panic attacks.”

On May 5, 2026, exactly one year after the cardiac arrest, Laura and Hussain reunited for the first time and they both said it was “emotional”.

Hussain said: “There are no real words I can say to Laura except ‘thank you’.

“She’s a real angel… and I think she was sent by God.

“It’s very important that people are aware cardiac arrests could happen to anyone at any time.

“And if you know how to do CPR, then people could save their lives.”

Laura added: “I think we need more defibs…. And everybody should know how to use them.

“I want it to be mandatory in schools, but everybody should learn how to do CPR and know basic life-saving skills.”

For more information about St John Ambulance, visit their website here: https://www.sja.org.uk/