A GRANDFATHER from Southbourne has thanked a doctor who saved his life a year after he suffered a cardiac arrest at his GP surgery.

Ron Hands, 86, describes himself as the 'luckiest man alive' following the incident at the Beaufort Road Surgery in January last year.

Doctor Neil Simpson performed CPR and used a defibrillator to restart his heart before Ron was rushed to Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Ron fell during the incident and sustained serious injuries including a bleed on his brain, a fractured skull, perforated ear drum and broken ear bones.

He said: “As I approached the surgery, I felt a little bit apprehensive. As I walked through the door, I had a bit of a weird feeling. I found myself standing in the exact spot where it happened.

"I felt like I was doing my own trip back to the future.

"The receptionist was the same one that was there when I died.

“I sat down and the doctor came, I shook his hand and said ‘thank you so much for looking after me’.

“He said, ‘listen, it was a team effort’”.

Ron, a former doorman at the Royal Bath Hotel who moved to Bournemouth in 1960, gave the doctor a signed copy of a book he’s published called the ‘Life and Times of Uncle Ron’

All proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards buying a defibrillator for Southbourne.

Ron said: “All in all, I’m not right, but I’m well on the way to recovery.”

“I said to the doctor, I don’t want to see you again for a long time”.

“I’ve still got a few aches and pains but it doesn’t stop me having a swift pint.”

Ron’s book is on sale at Margery Daw and The Grove Tavern in Southbourne.