Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A British man’s pals carried on skiing when he collapsed in the middle of the slopes with a massive heart attack and they only noticed he was not there when they got to the bottom.

The accident happened in the Ski Alberg area in Austria on run at number 144 at the resort which boasts 88 lifts and a ski area that stretches across the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and Tyrol.

Health officials said that the man had technically died because his heart stopped. It was only through the quick actions of other skiers and later a medical team that he was saved.

The man’s lifeless body in the middle of the ski piste was spotted by 43-year-old Dutchman and his companion who was skiing down the slopes after him.

The two skied quickly over to the Englishman and began emergency reanimation. They were helped a short while later by a 47-year-old doctor from nearby Hallein who was also skiing on the slopes at the same time and spotted the emergency taking place.

The three also raised the alarm and an air ambulance was quickly on the scene where the emergency crews, building on the work of the first couple on the scene, managed to restart the heart of the 66-year-old British man 20 minutes after he was found.

A police spokesman said: “The man had no heart activity at 11:35am. At 11:55am they were able to once again detect heart activity.”

It was unclear how long he had been lying there before the Dutchman found him.

A helicopter then flew the British man to the Feldkirch hospital where police confirmed that the other members of his group had not noticed he was missing until they arrived in nearby Zurs.

Police said that it was unclear whether the man had fallen and suffered a heart attack, or the heart attack had caused him to fall over, but confirmed that he showed no injuries or signs of having crashed.

The name of the man and the details of the group of friends he was with were not revealed.

An update on the man’s condition was not provided by the hospital because of confidentiality.

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