AN Evesham man has thanked Birmingham Airport staff who saved his life after he swallowed his tongue following a seizure.

Company director Rob Wilcox, aged 56, collapsed just moments after getting off his flight back home from Dusseldorf in Germany.

Luckily, airport staff rushed to the rescue and were able to clear his airway and put him in the recovery position as they awaited the arrival of paramedics.

“The last thing I remember was waiting for a taxi - then everything went pitch black,” said Mr Wilcox.

The father-of-three had been flagging down a taxi when the seizure began.

His colleague, Matt Cross, screamed for help and soon Tom Barrett and Nick Price, both BHX customer experience ambassadors, arrived at the scene.

They found Mr Wilcox unresponsive, lying on his back struggling to breathe having swallowed his tongue.

The first aid-trained duo cleared his airway and applied a defibrillator to Mr Wilcox’s chest, but the machine advised them not to administer a charge as it detected he still had a faint pulse.

Nick and Tom put Mr Wilcox in the recovery position, staying with him until paramedics arrived. 

“I’m so grateful to Nick and Tom,” Mr Wilcox added.

“Had it not been for their swift action, I would not be here today.

“These two are heroes.”

Mr Wilcox spent two days in hospital where he recovered and returned to Birmingham Airport with his wife Sharon on January 6 to thank Tom and Nick in person.

Mrs Wilcox said: “Rob and I were sitting with all the family on Christmas Day, around the table, feeling so lucky that Tom and Nick were there at that critical moment.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Mr Barrett added: “This is part of our job - making sure our customers have what they need, whether that’s directions to ‘departures’ is or, in this case, life-saving support.

“We’re just glad we could help.”

Mr Wilcox is now awaiting the result of tests as medics try to establish what caused the seizure, which happened on October 12 last year.