A 33-year-old man is fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack in a gym.

The man collapsed while working out in the Virgin Active gym in Crawley Retail Park at about 9pm on Thursday night.

Quick-thinking Quick-thinking staff and fellow gym users rushed to his aid, using resuscitation techniques to try to save his life.

He was given further life-saving treatment en route to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton but arrived in a serious condition.

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One eyewitness said he was working out alongside the man, who was using a smith weights machine to perform hack squats to build up his hamstrings.

He said: “He had about 15kgs on each side plus the bar which is about 10kgs which was probably within his boundaries for his size and he was doing it correctly.

“He was facing away from me and from the mirror and I saw him as he finished and then the next minute I saw him falling backwards with his head hitting the floor first.

“He nearly hit his head on the bench, if he had done that he would have cracked his head open.”

Two gym members rushed to his aid and moved him into the recovery position while a staff member also carried out first aid before paramedics arrived.

The gym was also evacuated.

Paramedics and West Sussex firefighters then carried the man down the stairs of the gym.

One firefighter said: “He was in a bad way.

“One of the staff at the gym heard that someone had collapsed and got the defibrillators and put it on this guy and started CPR which more than likely saved his life.”

A Virgin Active spokeswoman: “The quick-thinking of our Virgin Active Crawley staff meant that the member received the right attention at a critical time.

‘Best chance’ “Our thoughts are with the member and his family, and support is being given to the club team.

“Defibrillators are standard practice across Virgin Active clubs.”

A South East Coast Ambulance spokesman said: “Hopefully the actions taken by staff will have given him the best chance of survival.”