An Invercargill man says he owes his life to a 14-year-old boy who he had never met before.
It was a "normal Saturday" for Jamie Taylor when he decided to trim the hedges in his front yard in Grasmere two weeks ago.
The 50-year-old man has a cardiac condition called haemangioma, which was diagnosed 11 years ago.
Mr Taylor believed he over-exerted himself "and I collapsed out the front".
"I couldn’t get back up. So I rang my daughter who was about five to 10 minutes away, then it sort of got worse so I took my spray [heart medication] and [it] sort of got worse and I can’t remember much more after that," he said.
Luckily, James Hargest College student Alex Christensen, who was at a friend’s house in the neighbourhood, decided to have a run to the shop at the same time.
He saw the man collapsed in the street and went straight to help Mr Taylor.
"First, I was confused. ‘I was like, why is someone taking a nap?’, but I went to check on him and he couldn’t really speak to me," Alex said.
Alex then noticed Mr Taylor had a Medic Alert device around his neck and he pressed the button, and kept talking to him and rubbing his back.
"I asked him if he was OK and I told him I was going to wait until an ambulance got there."
When Mr Taylor’s daughter arrived, she performed CPR.
The ambulance soon arrived and took Mr Taylor to hospital.
"To me, he’s one in a million," Mr Taylor said of Alex.
"I owe my life to this young man and my daughter as far as I’m concerned.
"If it wasn’t for the reaction of this young fella pushing my [Medic Alert] button, I don’t know if I would still be here. He knew I was in distress, he knew I was in trouble and I owe my life to him."
Mr Taylor spent a couple of hours at Southland Hospital and was then discharged.
As soon as he arrived home, Mr Taylor put all his efforts into finding this "young fellow" who helped him.
His partner posted a message on the Southland Random Acts of Kindness Facebook page and in a couple of hours he was led to Alex.
"I want to meet this young man who took the time and effort to stop for a complete stranger on the side of the road and help.
"These days not many stop to help. I live in a busy street, how many cars have passed by and did not stop to help? Or my neighbours?
"I could hardly walk and breathe, but I wanted to do that, to thank him and I took a big box of chocolates around."
From that, a friendship was born.
Both share a passion for mechanics and how to "make things work" so Mr Taylor and Alex are meeting up so Mr Taylor can pass on his mechanical knowledge.
"I’ve got a garage full of vehicles, lawnmowers, and small engines. My father was a panelbeater, diesel mechanic and I started working with him, helping him when I was 12.
‘So this young man’s into that stuff as well, so if I can hand some of my knowledge and expertise in that on to this young fella and build him up, I’m going to," Mr Taylor said.
Alex was pleased with that.
"You don’t get many opportunities like that. Once I went to a dump shop and I completely pulled apart a weed-eater which wasn’t going ... but now, I have a lawnmower and Mr Taylor will help me to fix it."
Alex’s mother, Kimberly Finnerty, said the encounter happened at an important time as Alex had just overcome some tough times at school and this episode seemed to give him some direction.
While Mr Taylor was very thankful and impressed with the his actions, Alex believed he did not do anything special.
" I just did what anyone should do - I stopped to help."
