A Carmarthenshire man is urging people in Wales to download the mobile app that saved his life when he was having a heart attack.

Roger Van Praet, 54, from Llangain in Carmarthenshire, downloaded St John Wales’ free first aid app when it was launched last month, but he did not realise just how quickly he would need to use it.

Roger said, “My wife Sian is first aid trained so I tend to rely on her to help if there’s a crisis. But Sian advised me to download the first aid app to my iPhone when we were visiting the Royal Welsh Show. Just two weeks after downloading it I travelled to Bristol for work. I began feeling unwell on the train but put it down to not having had much to eat. By the time I checked into the hotel I was experiencing quite bad pains in my chest and difficulty breathing. I remembered that the app had a section on dealing with chest pain so I quickly looked at it on my phone.

“The app advised me that my symptoms; chest pain, trouble breathing, faintness, a rapid pulse and profuse sweating were all signs of a cardiac arrest and to call 999. I was shocked as I didn’t realise that was what was happening to me, but I followed the advice given.

“By the time the ambulance arrived I was unable to even move off the bed. The paramedics rushed me to the nearest hospital where I was given emergency surgery to remove a clot and fit a stent within what the doctors referred to as the ‘golden hour’.

“Medical staff told me that if I had waited much longer to get treatment, the outcome would have been very different. I would advise anyone to download St John Wales’ first aid app. It’s free and you never know when it could be a life saver.”

Up to 140,000 people die each year in situations where first aid could have helped save their lives. This is as many as die from cancer.*

The St John Wales First Aid app also contains advice on how to deal with common accidents and injuries such as choking, fever, burns and scalds and other medical emergencies such as how to give CPR.

Keith Dunn, Chief Executive at St John Wales, said: “I am delighted to hear that Roger was able to get the help he needed thanks to our app and I wish him a very speedy recovery.

“Roger’s experience shows that knowing what to do in those vital first minutes of an emergency situation could dramatically increase your chance of survival. Our aim is to have a first aider on every street in Wales and I’d advise anyone to download our app to learn the skills needed to potentially save a life.”

The app was funded and developed by BT, is fully bilingual in English and Welsh and is compatible with iOS and Android devices. It is available to download here or through the iTunes and Google Play stores by searching ‘St John Wales’.