Heart attack victim Peter Owens admits: “I’m the luckiest man alive”.

And this week, the father of two will meet the first-aid heroes who saved him when he collapsed at a rugby game.

Volunteers for first aid charity St John Ambulance and a doctor are to be recognised on Sunday for saving the life of the Bradford Bulls fan from Roberttown.

They leaped into action when the 57-year-old clutched his chest and collapsed at the Bulls’ Provident Stadium.

A presentation will be made at half time during next Saturday’s game against Halifax to Dr Fran Young and first aiders Richard Walton, Terry Laycock and Paul Buckley, of Huddersfield.

Dr Young was in the crowd when Mr Owens collapsed and heard shouts for help. She saw Mr Owens clutch his chest before falling and pushed through fans to get to the scene, where she immediately began giving chest compressions, known as CPR. St John Ambulance volunteers joined her with an automatic defibrillator, or AED, which gave the vital shock to restart his heart. They put Mr Owens in the recovery position and gave him oxygen until the ambulance crew arrived.

Mr Owens, a previously fit man who cycled up to 200 miles a week, later underwent triple by-pass surgery at Leeds General Infirmary.

“I’m the luckiest man alive,” said Mr Owens, “It doesn’t bear thinking about, but had I been at home or out on my bike, I would be dead. I can’t wait to meet the people who saved me, so I can thank them in person.”

Dr Young, a Bradford GP, praised the first aid volunteers. She said: “St John were there so fast with the AED, they saved his life. That is what you need. With a cardiac arrest in the community, your chances of survival are very slim. If Mr Owens had been somewhere else, like on a bus, his chances would not have been good.

“It was a real team effort that I was just a part of. You didn’t need a doctor – all you needed was proper first aid.”

The 40-year-old doctor added: “When he came round, the first thing Mr Owens asked was ‘What’s the score?’ so he had his priorities right!”

Mr Walton, 24, used the AED to restart Mr Owen’s heart while Mr Laycock, gave the patient oxygen. Unit leader, Mr Buckley helped paramedics to lift him to the first aid post for further treatment once he was breathing.

Others members of the team due to receive commendations include Olivia Harnby and Kathy Thwaites, Richard Harrison, Sue Burrows, from Elland, and Liam Cunningham.

Mr Buckley, 38, of Waterloo, said: “It’s hard to express how relieved and proud we are that we were able to save Mr Owens. The whole team was really professional.”