Two off-duty doctors taking part in a St Albans parkrun used their professional skills to bring another runner back from the brink of death.

Johanna Aspel and Anne Krishnanandan were among 200 competitors taking part in a race at Jersey Farm Woodland Park, Sandridge, on the morning of July 24 last year.

Only a few kilometres into the race, a woman running in front of them collapsed, and the two doctors - from Luton and Dunstable Hospital - immediately went to her aid.

They found that although the woman, later identified as Tobe Abati, was breathing she was unresponsive.

After calling for an ambulance they found that her breathing was worse, and were unable to find a pulse. They began administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while another runner using Dr Krishnanandan’s phone kept the ambulance service updated on the situation.

A defibrillator was then brought to the scene and they used that to shock Ms Abati and then continued with the CPR until the ambulance arrived. An air ambulance was called and the woman was air-lifted to hospital where she went on to recover from her ordeal.

Now Drs Aspel and Krishnanandan have both been awarded Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificates for saving her life.

Praising them for their action, Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Society said: “Put simply they were the right people in the right place at the right time. They knew exactly what to do and wasted no time in starting their fight to save their fellow runner.

“They did a magnificent job and were true life-saving heroes. They richly deserve the awards they are to receive.

“At the same time this is yet another case which emphasises the need for not must members of the emergency services, but as many people as possible, to learn how to administer CPR. It can, as it did in this case, save lives.”

The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back more than two centuries. It is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.

It was founded in 1774 to promote techniques of resuscitation, but as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.

Since it was set up the Society has considered over 87,000 cases and made over 200,000 awards.