Wodonga man thanks those who saved his life

Rodney Smith, 48, went into cardiac arrest at the Wodonga Caltex depot on Bradford Street on January 7.

His colleagues, including Drew May, began performing CPR ahead of the arrival of firefighters and paramedics.

He was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a coma.

While he still has some ongoing issues from the incident, which involved four cardiac arrests, Mr Smith said he was doing well.

Ambulance workers on Monday said the early intervention had been vital in saving his life.

The father-of-two thanked those involved during the reunion at the site and said he highly recommended others learn CPR.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"None us of us think these things will happen to us or to people we love or work with, they actually do a hell of a lot more than most of us understand," he said.

"Do yourself a favour and do everyone else around you a favour and get some sort of training and some sort of knowledge in assisting somebody when they need assistance.

"It could save someone's life."

Mr May said his training had "kicked in" after Mr Smith collapsed.

He had been planning to take him to hospital and heard a loud crash as he fell down at the business.

Mr May began performing CPR within about a minute while speaking to a triple zero operator.

"It was handy having that bit of training and feeling confident," he said.

Firefighters first provided medical care before paramedics took over.

The CFA has been responding to medical emergencies in Wodonga for 12 months, with Mr Smith on Monday shown some of the equipment used to save him.

Paramedic Peter Greenall was pleased to meet Mr Smith, with the meeting coinciding with World Restart a Heart Day on Wednesday.

"It's a fantastic outcome, absolutely fantastic," he said.

"Bystander CPR is pivotal to Rodney being here today, absolutely, and that's what we're really encouraging people to do."