A RUNNER who was feared dead after he collapsed on the finish line of the Bournemouth Marathon Festival’s 10K race has made a miraculous recovery.

Rob Cotton, 45, needed around eight minutes of CPR after his heart stopped within moments of him finishing the race.

His horrified colleagues feared he would not survive but amazingly, the father-of-three was showing signs of recovery within hours.

He is now easing himself back into work and talking about his near-death experience to try and boost funds for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Southampton’s Princess Anne Hospital – the cause he and 26 of his work colleagues at Bournemouth-based Platinum Recruitment were running for.

They chose this charity to support their former colleague Jade Weeks who lost her little boy Louis at just seven weeks old.

All 27 runners finished the 10k but the team celebrations were cut short when it became apparent Rob was unwell.

Director Neil Allen said: “He fell over and we could see that he wasn’t with it.

“Someone put him in the recovery position and then an off-duty surgeon from Bournemouth came and offered help. He said it was more serious and took him from the recovery position, put him on his back and gave him CPR – mouth-to-mouth initially and then someone came with a defibrillator pack.

“I thought we had watched Rob die, I really did. All I could think was ‘he’s got a wife and three children’. It was harrowing and awful.”

Rob, of Wimborne, said: “I got over the line and felt a little bit out of breath. I rested my hands on an orange barrier – I saw my hands resting on it – but that’s the last thing I knew.

“The first real memory of coming to was my wife talking to me, saying ‘it’s alright, you’re going to be alright’.

“Since then it’s been a case of trying to piece together what happened. I feel incredibly lucky and incredibly grateful and a wee bit embarrassed because the day was meant to be about Jade, not my funny five minutes.”

He also paid tribute to the “amazing” staff who looked after him during his week in Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Director Paul Sinclair said: “We thought he had gone, it was that serious. There was nothing coming from him at all.

“But we can now almost look back in amazement at how well it has worked out, compared to how awful it could’ve been.”

Platinum Recruitment have so far raised more than £5,300 for the NICU at Princess Anne Hospital. To help boost their total, donate via www.justgiving.com/Paul-Sinclair5/