The Assembly Member for Blaenau Gwent is recovering after suffering a heart attack in a Cardiff park on Friday.

Alun Davies, who is 56, says he collapsed while running in Bute park and later had surgery at hospital. He says he has no memory of the incident.

“Apparently – and I have no memory of this – I stopped and took a breath, said hello, and then collapsed. I know because of the cuts and bruises on my head and face that the collapse was total and immediate,” the Labour AM wrote on his blog.

“It turns out that I had suffered a cardiac arrest. At that moment my heart had simply stopped beating. It had ceased to function. The most reliable pump that nature has ever constructed simply stopped working.

“There was no notice. No pain. I had no indication either during the day or previous days that there was anything wrong.

“The cuts and bruises on my face and head tell me that I was unconscious before I hit the ground. I have no idea if my heart had already stopped – I assume so.

“The ambulance arrived quickly and I understand that it was the paramedics who used the defibrillator to restart my heart.”

‘Gratitude’

He says that he had surgery on Saturday and spent the next few days recovering from his ordeal.

“We all talk about the NHS and it may well have its faults, but at a time when it is dealing with the biggest health crisis in our lifetimes it can also save the life of an overweight middle-aged man with a vision of himself as championship middle-distance runner,” he said.

“Overwhelming I’m feeling a profound sense of gratitude to everyone who stopped to help, friends who have texted and contacted me over the last days and to all those people who took care of me in hospital. Together they have saved my life and enabled me to write about this.”