A  non-Jewish Mancunian has donated a defibrillator to the local Chabad as a thank you for the life-saving CPR performed on him by the son of his Jewish boss — and the rapid response of the Hatzola volunteer ambulance team.

In his job as a driver for a graphic design company, Nigel Walsh travelled to Hendon in June to collect his boss Martin Abramson. On arrival, he suffered a cardiac arrest in the driveway, collapsing and stopping breathing before he could reach the front door.

Mr Abramson’s son David saw what had happened and called both the ambulance service and Hatzola. Although not trained in CPR, he tried to replicate what he had seen on TV dramas. His mother Karen performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“David found me collapsed but he performed CPR and the Hatzola team arrived within seven minutes,” Mr Walsh said. “It took the London Ambulance 22 minutes to get there. I would have died without Hatzola and the Abramson family’s help.”

Mrs Abramson agreed that “if this had happened in a non-Jewish area, he wouldn’t have survived. He had turned blue and we couldn’t find a pulse.

“David was pumping on his chest and we managed to get a pulse back. His life was hanging in the balance.”

Mr Walsh donated the defibrillator to the Jewish community in Manchester so other lives could be saved.

“When I was recovering in hospital, I knew I wanted to do something. We need to have these machines installed in as many places as possible.”

He was also grateful for the support the company, RMS International, had given him and his family during his recovery.

Mr Walsh contributed £500 towards the £1,000 cost of the defibrillator. The remainder was donated by his employer.

Rabbi Shmuli Jaffe of Chabad of Whitefield accepted the defibrillator on behalf of the community.

“We are working closely with Hatzola to train Whitefield community members in CPR and the use of the defibrillator,” he said.