A 'HERO' staff member at a York school helped save a man's life after he collapsed with a cardiac arrest.

Joey George, who had only received his first aid training two weeks earlier, stepped in to help with a defibrillator after a karate club member collapsed during a grading event being held at Manor CE Academy.

Now the Nether Poppleton school has been presented with a cheque for £1,135 by members of Haxby Shotokan Karate Club and Selby Shotokan Karate Club as a thank you to the school and Joey, a senior lettings assistant, after the incident.

The donation is help the school buy another defibrillator.

Both clubs were holding a karate grading at the school, which included Selby club members Ian Dudley, his daughter Sarah Dudley and grandson Luke Marshall.

Sarah and Luke successfully graded, but just after Ian had finished the first part of his black belt grading he fell ill and suffered a cardiac arrest.

Fiona Slater, a doctor in the audience, as well as a retired nurse ran over to help Ian. The doctor gave Ian CPR, while Paul Brant, from the Selby club, did mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Joey quickly fetched the school’s defibrillator and took over, helping to save Ian's life.

Joey said: "I am so pleased to hear that he has made a full recovery and that I was able to help. Anyone would have done the same thing, but it has definitely made me realise how important it is to have defibrillators in schools and other public places. They quite literally save lives, and we're all hugely grateful that the karate club have bought a second defibrillator for Manor."

Jim Bamford, the Haxby club’s chairman, said: “When the ambulance crew attended they said that if Joey had not got the defibrillator and helped Ian so quickly there could have been a very different outcome for Ian.”

He said both clubs wanted to thank the school and bought it another defibrillator so one can be kept in the sports facilities.

Jim added: “It is great that Ian and his family have been able to present the school with this cheque and Ian is now back in training and hopefully going for his black belt in December.”

Ian, 66, of Thorpe Willoughby near Selby, said: “All these people helped save my life. I can’t thank them enough.”

Manor head teacher Simon Barber said: “We are very grateful to Selby and Haxby Shotokan Karate clubs for their very generous donation of a defibrillator to our school, and that our existing defibrillator was used so successfully to help Ian.

“We are very proud of Joey in acting so quickly and calmly in a stressful situation. He is a hero!”

Ian and his family also thanked the paramedics and coronary care unit team at York Hospital.