Father thanks Prince for helicopter dash

A MAN whose life was saved by Prince William yesterday said thank you to the young royal and his RAF crew.

Father-of-three Richard Moran from Preston was working at an offshore gas rig in Morecambe Bay when he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to hospital by the RAF Sea King helicopter which Prince William was co-piloting in his first ever rescue flight.

Richard, 52, who is a catering team leader, said: "I started suffering from what I thought was heartburn. It never occurred to me that it could be a heart attack. I am no doctor, but when I saw the heart lines going up and down and saw one that was really 'down', I knew I must have had a heart attack."

Richard was rushed to the heli-deck to get on board an RAF helicopter and taken to the Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

"I knew there was a chance Prince William could be on the helicopter as I knew he was with the RAF. But to be honest, at that point, it was the last thing on my mind."