Penny Little, left, who saved the life of fellow Royal Mailer David Brown, right
Two postal workers who had just finished their shift saved the life of a man who had effectively 'died' in the street – and then discovered he was another postman.
Penny Little and John Filliter had just finished their day's work for Royal Mail in Clevedon and manager Penny was giving John a lift back to his normal base in Yatton.
As they were driving out of Clevedon past the Asda supermarket, they spotted a man lying prone on the ground.
"We went past him in just a second and it took a few seconds to think that something wasn't right," said Penny, the manager of the Clevedon sorting office at the time.
"The first instinct was to think he was a drunk or something, but there was something about the way he was lying. He'd obviously fallen and hadn't put his hands out, because they were down by his side and he was face down.
"So we quickly turned around, parked up and went to his aid," she added.
The pair called an ambulance and followed the instructions of the 999 operator until paramedics quickly arrived.
Penny Little, who rushed to the stricken man's aid with her colleague John Filliter
It took them around 15 minutes and several resuscitation attempts before, miraculously, the man's heart began beating again and he was rushed to hospital.
"It was just a complete relief when they found a very weak pulse. We were helping the paramedics, getting equipment from the ambulance for them, it was a very traumatic few minutes, when they were using the defibrillator on him," she added.
Incredibly, he made a good recovery, and within days Penny, 47, and John were amazed to discover the man whose life they had saved by their quick thinking was a postman himself.
"I honestly didn't think I'd find out anything more about the chap after the ambulance left – we hadn't even given them our details or anything," she said.
"But then over the next few days we heard about a postman who worked at the Mail Centre in Filton who had had a heart attack in Clevedon, and it turned out it was him."
The man whose life they saved by turning the car around that day was David Brown, a postman from Clevedon who works out of the Mail Centre in Filton. He had been unwell after collapsing previously, and was actually on a recuperation walk when he suffered a cardiac arrest.
When he was discharged from hospital, Penny and John were invited to his home to be reunited with him.
"It was amazing, and very emotional," said Penny. "It was kind of surreal. It must be a traumatic thing for David and his family, and it wasn't until we met David did we really realise the importance or the severity of it.
"To think we were in the right place, passing at the right time – they estimated he had collapsed just a minute before – and went to help him.
"The doctors and paramedics said it was pretty much unheard of that someone whose heart has stopped for that long making a full recovery."
Now the three are firm friends, and Penny has realised the importance of learning first aid.
"What struck me was that I simply didn't know what to do to help David apart from ring an ambulance," she said. "I've since done a CPR first aid course, so that if it happens again, I'll know."