Hero nurse saves the life of her good samaritan

The 65-year-old grandfather immediately waded in, telling the man to leave her alone.

When he got off the train, however, the stress of the incident brought on a heart attack and he collapsed.

Luckily the nurse, Polly Collins, had alighted at the same station. She saw retired warehouse manager Stephen slump to the floor and ran to his aid.

“She saved my life,” said grateful Stephen yesterday.

Polly, 43, was on her way to work at Hillingdon Hospital in west London when a stranger objected to the noise of her mobile phone as she was texting and began shouting and verbally abusing her.

Stephen, who has two children and four grandchildren, said:

“It’s funny, isn’t it? She was on the phone texting and when we pulled into the station this man got aggressive about its noise and got in her face.

“This guy was awful, so rude. I had a go and then he got in my face.

I can look after myself but I was a bit intimidated and my heart was racing a bit but it all got sorted and then my stop came.

“I got off the train and 30 seconds later that was it... goodnight Vienna.”

After calming the situation, Stephen got off the London Underground train at Uxbridge station but he had walked only about 10 yards from the platform when he dropped to the floor.

Polly, a single mother-of-two, spotted him lying near the turnstiles while his wife Masdalina, 62, screamed for help.

Springing into action, Polly quickly grabbed the station’s defibrillator and resuscitated him.

He technically “died” three times but she continued to perform CPR on him until ambulance crews arrived.

The paramedics took Stephen to Harefield Hospital where he was operated on by heart specialists.

He had a stent inserted to help the flow of blood to his heart and was discharged from hospital on Tuesday.

Modest Polly, from Grimsby, said yesterday: “I was just carrying out the duty of care, being a registered nurse, and anybody would do the same.

“At the end of the day this guy was quite remarkable himself. “He defended me in such a manner and it turns out he was the one that needed defending.

“It could have been such a sad story but thankfully it turned out brilliantly. I was just pleased, praise the Lord, that he survived.

“Had he not, I would have had to live with it for the rest of my life because he didn’t need to do what he did.”

Last night Stephen’s daughter Sarah, 42, of Queen’s Park, north-west London, said:

“They are both heroes but she is a much greater one. “She turned into superwoman at that moment. I couldn’t be more thankful.”

British Transport Police are now looking for the man who abused the nurse on the busy train shortly before noon on Saturday.