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A FIREFIGHTER was stunned when he received a thank-you text – from a man he thought had died.

Chris Kendall performed CPR on heart attack victim Allan Hainey for

15 minutes but he was told later by police that Allan had passed away.

Five months later, Chris, 32, got a text from Allan thanking him for saving

his life.

(Image: Deadline)

The firefighter said: “I couldn’t stop smiling when I got his message.

“I was jumping up and down. I couldn’t be happier that he’s alive.”

Fire brigade operational training manager Chris was driving on the A1 in the Borders in June when he spotted Allan being dragged from his car after suffering severe heart attack.

Chris, who was living in Kincardine, Fife , at the time, gave chest

compressions to Allan for 15 minutes.

A mix-up meant that when Chris asked police later about the outcome, he was told Allan had died.

But the CPR had saved him. Police Scotland IT worker Allan, 59, of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, spent 52 days in hospital recovering.

And in November, Allan got hold of Chris’s mobile number and texted him.

He wrote: “By all accounts from the doctors and surgeons at Edinburgh Infirmary, you saved my life. My wife, family and myself will be forever grateful.”

Allan is now arranging for around 900 colleagues at his workplace to learn how to do CPR.

He said: “If it wasn’t for Chris, I wouldn’t have made it.”