A thankful daughter has praised off-duty coastguard staff who helped save her dad's life after he collapsed in Tesco Express in Falmouth.

Kirsty Smart said she thought her dad had died after he collapsed in the store on Discovery Quay on October 30 and was unconscious for ten minutes.

But her dad's life was saved by off-duty members of the coastguard who used a defibrillator to bring him back round.

Kirsty said said her dad was unconscious for ten minutes and the family actually thought he had died.

However off-duty members of the coastguard team were in the store shopping and leapt into action, grabbing a defibrillator and using it to help Kirsty's dad.

In a letter to the Packet, Kirsty said without their quick actions they would have lost their dad forever and wanted to thank the coastguard members who helped save him.  She said they will always be her heroes.

"I would like to give a big thank you to the coastguard staff for saving my dad's life, on Monday the 30th October," she said.

"My dad collapsed in our local Tesco express store on the events square in Falmouth, and was unconscious for ten minutes, and was thought to be dead.

"Luckily there was coastguard staff shopping in Tesco at the time and with their quick actions and a defibrillator, they saved my dad's life, which I will always be grateful for. We haven't met and I don't know their names, but they will always be my heroes.

"I would also like to give a big thank you to the Tesco staff who helped out as well, I will always be grateful, Thank you My heroes, Kirsty Smart."

When contacted by the Packet, the family said they didn't want to say anymore but just wanted their letter to speak for itself.

Coastguard Rescue have been contacted for a response but those who saved Kirsty's dad's life were members from the Area 11 Area Management Team (AMT) - a team of six full time guys that manage Coastguard Rescue Teams across Cornwall, based out of Falmouth with the Falmouth rescue team.