A MAN'S 'indigestion' on a Lake District fell turned out to be a heart attack.

Stephen Dunlop, 65, from North Shields, had just reached the summit of Catbells when he began to feel stabbing pains in his chest.

He initially "passed it off as indigestion" but it wasn't long before wife Marion, after trying to call for help and not getting any reception, began to panic.

She said: “I screamed ‘my husband is having chest pains does anyone have any signal’ and a man who was with his family shouted ‘I do’ and rang for help.

“It wasn’t long until mountain rescue arrived, and they set off the flare to let the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) know where we were.”

Mr Dunlop said: "I started to be sick and then everything was a blur."

Curiously, Mr Dunlop recognised the medics who came to his aid - being a fan of the More4 television series Emergency Helicopter Medics, which features the GNAAS team.

He found out in hospital he had had a heart attack, and underwent surgery to unblock an artery. Unfortunately, he later caught pneumonia and had to return to hospital.

Mr Dunlop said: “I am still not 100 per cent but I am getting there. They told me at hospital I am a very lucky man and that’s exactly how I feel.

“GNAAS is a brilliant charity and without them I would not be here.”