Heart attack survivor Alan Kennedy was reunited with the paramedic who saved his life today.

The retired miner was the first patient in the area covered by the North East Ambulance Service to be given a clot-busting drug by an ambulance crew member rather than having to wait until reaching hospital.

He is expected to be the first of many as around 70 specially trained paramedics are deployed across County Durham, Tyneside and Wearside. Eventually all 260 paramedics should be able to administer the drug.

The first North-East patient to be given so-called thrombolytic drugs by a paramedic rather than hospital doctor is a significant development.

It follows the call by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn in February 2001 for paramedics to inject heart attack victims with life-saving drugs at the kerbside.

The drug works by dissolving an obstruction and restoring the live-giving blood flow to the heart before lasting damage is done. If it is given soon enough it can make the difference between life and death.

Mr Kennedy, 70, from Shiney Row, County Durham, who has three grown-up children, said he was "very, very grateful" to paramedic Terry Short from Peterlee Ambulance Station for saving his life.

The drama began five weeks ago at around midnight on Friday July 23rd at the caravan park where the couple were staying at Crimdon, County Durham.

"I started getting pain across my chest, it got worse and I was really sweating," said Mr Kennedy.

His wife, Joyce, went to fetch a neighbour, who has a nursing background.

"She told us that Alan was having a heart attack and to ring for an ambulance," she said.

When the ambulance arrived, paramedic Terry Short followed guidelines before injecting Mr Kennedy with the clot-busting drug.

This involved an 18 point checklist and a sophisticated electrocardiographic scan to establish whether a heart attack had taken place.

Miraculously, by the time the ambulance reached the University Hospital of Hartlepool the patient told the crew that he was already feeling much better.

"The really lovely thing is that the paramedic came in to see how Alan was getting on the next day," said Mrs Kennedy.

Mr Short said it felt "fantastic" to be the first paramedic to administer roadside thrombolytic drugs.

A spokesman for the Tees, East, and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (Tenyas) said the clot-busting drug was being trialled by paramedics in the Harrogate area and the plan was to roll the service out across the entire patch.