Mark Wright broke down in tears as he appeared on This Morning to discuss the importance of CPR. The former The Only Way is Essex star opened up on the ITV daytime show about a traumatic experience that saw him having to perform the potentially life-saving act on a stranger.
Mark shared how he was on holiday in Tenerife with actress wife Michelle Keegan when a fellow guest at the hotel they were staying in had a heart attack and later died. The 35-year-old emotionally told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: "I did all I could, but he was there for a while before I got there."
As he began to choke up, Holly interjected and said "Like you said you've got someone's life under your hand and it doesn't get any more real than that. And sometimes it works out." She then turned to her co-host Phillip who also had to perform CPR on his father many years ago.
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Holly continued: "You bought your father back didn't you? Doing the same thing," to which Phil replied: "Yes, he collapsed when we lived in New Zealand and was certainly dead on the carpet and the whole world sort of went into sharp focus. I hadn't been trained but I'd watched stuff on TV and my mum was running next door. The whole place just in panic but I just did that."
Mark also said: "He wasn't necessarily alive when I gave him CPR but it allowed the ambulance to put him on a life support machine. He wasn't pronounced dead while he was in my hands." And while it was a tragic ending, Mark's actions bought the family some time, he added.
The radio and TV star then went on to give a CPR demonstration live on the show alongside Dr Zoe Williams. Meanwhile, Mark was praised by the man he battled to save's daughter on social media for his quick actions. She wrote: "It was my Dad who had the cardiac arrest in Tenerife.
"I want to thank you again for your help and support, without it my mum wouldn't have had the opportunity to say her goodbyes to Dad. You are an absolute star and I'm so grateful you were there, you did your best and I'll forever be grateful to you." Mark replied: "There you are Vic. I’ve been trying to find you. You were incredible for your dad and did him proud. You was stronger than I can ever imagine someone would be in that situation. Send you all, all the love in the world Vic. Xx"
However, some This Morning fans were quick to speak out in defence of Mark after he was hit by some negative comments online. One argued: "I can’t work out the digs Mark Wright is getting. He tried to save a life, if you’ve never done CPR on someone you have no idea how it feels before during and after. Do not judge a man for trying! #ThisMorning."
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