Almost a year to the day since he collapsed and ‘died’ in a Bournemouth hotel, Lew Bell has returned for a holiday – and planted a kiss on the manager who saved his life.
Mr Bell, 84, from Haworth near Doncaster, had just arrived at the Marsham Court Hotel last February when he suffered a massive heart attack in his room.
His wife Margaret raised the alarm and hotel manager Rosie Wallace rushed up two flights of stairs to get to her guest.
Using newly-acquired CPR and resuscitation techniques, she worked on Lew for eight minutes until paramedics arrived and took over.
They later told her she had helped to save his life.
Lew spent three weeks in Bournemouth Hospital and was fitted with a pacemaker.
Now, finally fit enough to take a holiday, he knew exactly where he wanted to stay.
He said: “It’s thanks to Rosie and the Marsham Court that I am still around and it’s lovely to be able to come back, look Rosie in the face and thank her with all my heart.”
He continued: “I don’t really remember a lot about the last time I was here because my visit was over so quickly.
“But I hope to have a nice relaxing five days this time around – with no drama!”
During his stay at the Marsham Court, Lew will celebrate his 85th birthday, an occasion his wife Margaret, 80, feared he would never see.
She said: “We had only been in the hotel for an hour when Lew collapsed and I thought I had lost him.
“Strangely enough we weren’t even supposed to be staying at the Marsham Court, but the hotel we had booked was full.
“We later found out that Rosie had only recently updated her CPR training – it seems like it was fate that brought us here.”
Rosie received the first National Coastal Tourism Academy Customer Service Award in 2014, as a result of her life-saving actions.
She said: “When I saw Lew on the floor of his room, the adrenaline kicked-in and I just set to work.
“After he was taken to hospital I just collapsed in a heap.
“To have him back here, recovered and well is absolutely fantastic and we are looking forward to making a real fuss of him.”
