A MOTHER-of-two, who passed out while shopping for groceries, has thanked the supermarket staff she believes saved her life.

Sarah Pritchard was stocking up on essentials at CK's in Charles Street, Milford Haven, last month when she started feeling ill.

Within minutes she was sweating heavily and struggling to breathe.

"The staff got me a chair and asked my name and gave me a bottle of water, but I kept dropping it," said Sarah.

"From then on it got a bit blurry."

While Sarah maintained she was ok and just needed to take a taxi home, store manager Kyle Rees had other ideas.

Concerned about Sarah's colour-changing complexion, he rang 999 - and it was while on the phone to paramedics that Sarah passed out.

"We laid her down and got out the store's defibrillator, which straight away told us to start CPR," said Kyle.

Helped by student nurse Sarah Brown, who happened to be in the shop, staff member John Morgan - a former St John Ambulance volunteer - started chest compressions.

Meanwhile Kyle began evacuating the building.

"It was really busy in the store, and it's not something we normally do, but in that situation I just wanted this woman to have her dignity," he said.

In the 12 minutes before first responders arrived, Kyle said Sarah's pulse disappeared three times.

"It kept coming and going, and she couldn't breathe."

After more than two hours of treatment on the scene, Sarah was eventually taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a severe chest infection.

"I was in hospital for about two weeks," said Sarah, who lives in Milford Haven.

"Kyle and the team came to see me in hospital and I hadn’t slept so I was a bit tired and delirious but I remember meeting them and saying 'thank you, I wouldn’t be here without you'."

Sarah, who lives with her two children, added: "If it had happened at home then I think someone would have found me dead.

"They saved my life."

Kyle and team popped in to see how Sarah was getting on earlier this week, and the 31-year-old store manager said it was great to see her again.

"I had never dealt with anything like this before, to see someone pretty much pass away and come back to life," he said.

"I’ve done first aid training, and it’s one thing to do it on a doll but to deal with it physically - on a real person - it’s quite surreal.

"To see her now is amazing."

"I'm feeling a lot better now, and was able to go home and spend Christmas with my family," said Sarah.

"I just want to say a big thank you."