A TEACHER whose heart stopped and a bystander who helped medics save her have joined the appeal for Londoners to ‘step in and be a lifesaver’.

Rachael Eckley suffered a cardiac arrest while meeting a friend for coffee.

Judy Domoney, who was in the café at the time, gave chest compressions as medics worked to get Rachael breathing and restart her heart.

The pair were reunited at Coteford Junior School, Eastcote, for a special assembly on Wednesday organised by deputy head Rachael.

It was part of a week of events at the school to promote first aid training and CPR classes.

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Judy, 51, who works for a construction firm, recalls the shock that set in after Rachael had been taken by ambulance to Harefield Hospital from the Priory Café in Ruislip.

“It had been years since I had training and I called work that afternoon and said ‘get me on a first aid course’,” she said.

Since the incident in March, doctors have diagnosed Rachael, 46, with a heart condition that will need continuous monitoring.

The mum-of-two said: “The longer you leave it to step in when someone is in cardiac arrest, the more detrimental it becomes. Judy gave me a chance.”

Cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops pumping blood round the body.