I’ve always been impressed by people who save the lives of others; perhaps it stems from the time when, at about the age of eleven, I was saved from drowning by three heroes – the surfie-boy who had found me and pulled me onto his surfboard; my fourteen-year-old big brother Bill, who took over from the surfie-boy; and Chris Betts, Bill’s best friend (and handsome hero – now actor in Australia) who finally brought me in to shore.

My brother Henry saved the life of a little boy who had drowned at the wading pool in Wynnum some years ago; my brother Robert is a piano tuner and part-time fireman, and therefore he saves lives on a regular basis; my nephew Tom is a life-guard (and handsome hero); my own son James, as a teenager, saved a drunk from falling fifty feet to his death from a road bridge. And now, only three weeks ago, my twenty-year-old nephew Chris saved a fisherman who was having a heart attack…

Young Chris was taking a walk along one of the breakwaters at Dawlish seafront when he noticed the fisherman in distress.

“Are you alright?” Chris enquired.

The man in his forties couldn’t answer. Chris felt for a pulse and signs of breathing, and found none. As a former Air Training Cadet, Chris had been taught heart massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation techniques so he quickly went into action. After a while an off-duty policeman came along and the two took it in turns to bring the man back to life. An ambulance came and the fisherman was taken to hospital, where he recovered fully.

I would love to be able to say that I have saved a life, but I haven’t, unfortunately, unless you count all my blood donations but that’s not what I mean, I course. I stopped a fight once but I’ve never experienced the thrill and pride of saving a life – it must be wonderful. I’m so proud of all the heroes I know and I just can’t help being very impressed.