A man who had a stroke and collapsed in the street is trying to track down the “guardian angel” who saved his life.

Mathew O’Toole was sat on a bench on Wigmore Street in central London, when he began vomiting and sweating.

A woman with a “kind face” and blonde curly hair spotted that he needed help and called for paramedics.

Mr O’Toole said: “People do walk past, we don’t always take the time to see what is going on around us, but if that woman hadn’t stopped, I would have been dead. She was just so calming with me all the way through.

“It’s another one of those little acts of heroism, those little acts of kindness, and I just want to thank her for that.”

The 47-year-old believes the woman might have had an Australian or New Zealand accent, was probably a nurse, and may have been called Dani or Danielle.

His wife, Georgina, 44, tweeted: “He started vomiting. Many people passed by. Many probably assumed that he was drunk or hungover. One lady stopped.

“She recognised the signs of a stroke, called the paramedics, and directed them to take him straight to UCH emergency stroke unit.

“If she hadn’t done that, we might not have him here today. Or things could have been a lot worse than they are.”

The incident happened at 8.30am on 10 June outside the Ole & Steen bakery.

Mr O’Toole, from Farnham in Surrey, spent five days in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

He said: “The road to recovery is long and I know there are going to be ups and downs, but it’s purely because of the help that woman gave me that I am here today.

“It is Father’s Day tomorrow, and I could have left two children, aged 16 and 12, and a wife, but as it is I am looking forward to opening some socks.”

Mrs O’Toole added: “I just want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, because I’ve still got a husband and my boys have still got a dad.”

She said the family was also “so grateful” for the treatment he received from the NHS, and wanted to highlight the importance of recognising the symptoms of a stroke.

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