A MOTORIST who had a heart attack on his way to work is the 100th North-Easterner to receive life-saving "clot-busting" drugs from ambulance paramedics.

Thomas Cree, 52, from Forest Hall, Newcastle, was behind the wheel when he suddenly felt severe chest pains.

He said: "Luckily I was near a doctor's surgery, so I pulled over and my wife went to get a doctor."

The GP immediately rang for an ambulance and within minutes, paramedics from the North-East Ambulance Service (NEAS) were administering the life-saving injection.

Mr Cree said: "I am in no doubt that my life was saved by the paramedic who administered this drug after my heart attack. If I had had to wait till I reached the hospital before being given the drug, I probably would not have been here today."

The drug, called Tenecte-plase, was previously only administered in hospital by a doctor or nurse.

People suffering from a heart attack can now be given it before arriving at hospital.

Tenecteplase works by rapidly dissolving life-threatening blood clots.

Gail Stewart, the paramedic who treated Mr Cree, said: "Being able to administer this drug to patients like Thomas is fantastic. It not only significantly reduces the risk of patients dying from heart attacks, but it also significantly improves their recovery and future quality of life."

The first paramedic in the North-East to give a patient a clot-busting drug at the scene of a heart attack was Terry Short, 35, from Peterlee Ambulance Station, in July 2004.

Since training in the NEAS began, 230 of the services' 310 paramedics have been trained to give Tenecteplase.