Hoffman saves jogger who had cardiac arrest

A jogger who suffered a cardiac arrest was saved after Hollywood veteran Dustin Hoffman went to his aid.

Sam Dempster, 27, collapsed during a run in Hyde Park on Apr 27. Hoffman, who has a house in London, was enjoying a morning walk when he saw Dempster crash to the ground, landing on his face.

When paramedics arrived, the Rain Man star explained what happened.

The 74-year-old actor waited with the stricken lawyer until he was resuscitated and rushed to hospital.

When it became clear the patient was stabilised, Hoffman congratulated the three ambulance crews present.

“As we got out of the ambulance Dustin Hoffman explained what had happened,” said paramedic Martin Macarthur.

“He said he saw the patient collapse face first on the pavement and that he was frothing at the mouth. He stayed on the scene for the whole duration of the resuscitation which was about 15 minutes. He was very concerned.

“We shocked the patient once with the defibrillator and he regained consciousness. And at the end Mr Hoffman was kind enough to come up to all the crews and said, ‘Great job, guys’, which was really nice of him to say.

“We were all aware of his presence throughout but in a job as serious as that we were focused on the patient. Control have since been back through the calls and it was someone else who called the ambulance.”

In the drama, Hoffman lost his music player, glasses, umbrella, and diary to the paramedics, who took them thinking they belonged to Dempster. They have since been returned.

The patient was taken to hospital and underwent life-saving surgery.