Leisure centre worker saves swimmer's life twice

A lifelong swimmer was left thanking his lucky stars at his choice of pool when the same member of staff saved his life not once but twice in the space of a few months.

In November 2025 Peter Halladay, 68, was swimming the same 60 lengths he has completed every day for the past 30 years at Yate Leisure Centre near Bristol when he suffered a heart attack.

Luckily staff member Ashlee Purnell was on hand to administer life-saving CPR and shocks from a defibrillator. She ended up doing the same in January when Halladay suffered a second attack.

Ashlee said: "The first thing he said when he came round was 'please don't tell me it's happened again'."

It took 50 minutes of CPR and four shocks from a defibrillator to save Halladay's life following his first heart attack.

Staff at the Leisure centre receive first aid training every month, but Purnell said nothing prepares you for a real-life emergency.

"Your adrenaline just skyrockets, and it's like 'what do I do now?' But I think you just forget everything and just get straight into it, you just get on with it," she said.

After being fitted with a stent Halladay was back in the pool 12 weeks later, only for lightning to strike twice.

Describing his second heart attack, Halladay said: "I'd done three days of 60 lengths. The fourth day I got in, and I'd done 16 lengths, and I got to the end and felt a bit odd, stood up in the shallow end and felt a little bit dizzy.

"I sat out on the side of the pool, and again, next thing I know, Ashlee's over the top of me."

After that episode, he underwent heart bypass surgery, and said he does plan to return to swimming at Yate once he has completely recovered.

Halladay joked: "I do a lot of walking, a lot of cycling - luckily, I only have my heart attacks when I'm at the pool."

Ultimately he needed a double heart bypass and has now been fitted with an ICD heart device - a tiny defibrillator under the skin - to kick-start his heart in the event of another emergency.

Purnell said the thank you card she received from Halladay and his family left her "all teary".

"We train every single month and you think you're ready. But emotionally, I don't think it expected it to hit me as much as it did," she said.

She urged everyone to get some first aid training.

"I think the more people that you've got around you that can help out, the better, and obviously you're not on your own are you? It's not all left down to you."

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.