A Radcliffe supermarket employee has been praised for helping to save the life of a customer who had a heart attack.

Tammie Wakefield, 50, rushed to the aid of Asda shopper Julie Woodburn after she became ill while at their Radcliffe store in April.

Community champion Tammie used her first aid training to spot the signs of a heart attack after Julie began experiencing feelings of nausea, which she believed were caused by indigestion.

Tammie sprang into action, calling an ambulance and waiting with Julie while paramedics arrived.

READ MORE: Victoria Wood: Comedian's brother calls for bollards around statue

Julie, who had just celebrated her 65th birthday, was taken to Fairfield General Hospital in Bury where doctors discovered she had two blocked arteries with another one partially blocked.

She is now on medication and has had one stent fitted and is scheduled to have another fitted next month.

Julie said: “It came as a complete shock. I really owe my life to Tammie. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

Four years ago, Tammie performed first aid on her son Ben when he lost consciousness after suffering a severe supraventricular tachycardia – a very fast heart rate.

The father-of-one later had another cardiac episode but was saved by a defibrillator device, which sends an electrical pulse to the heart to restore a normal heart heat or restart the organ entirely.

Since then, she has campaigned to install the lifesaving devices in the community.

READ MORE: Bury man commemorates D-Day anniversary with front garden display

Tammie said: "Paramedics took Julie away and I heard nothing else until the Friday of that week when I saw her in store.

“I immediately went up to her and gave her a big hug expecting her to say they didn't find anything wrong, but she told me that she did have a heart attack and the hospital had told her that if she had of gone home without any intervention she would not be here now.

“This absolutely floored me and I got quite emotional. It's great that she is doing so well now."

"The really bad experience of my son having a heart condition made me research everything heart related so I managed to put that experience to good use with Julie."