Former Down hurler Stephen Keith has spoken about surviving a cardiac arrest during a gym session in Portaferry, crediting his training partners' swift action for saving his life. Keith, 39, collapsed after finishing an exercise session and stopped breathing, but a nurse present began CPR immediately while others fetched nearby defibrillators, keeping him alive until paramedics arrived. He is now urging communities, sports clubs and organisations to ensure CPR training and working defibrillators are readily available.

Keith spent almost a month in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital, where doctors found a blocked coronary artery, fitted a stent, and later implanted a defibrillator as a precaution. He estimates the "downtime" before CPR restored his breathing was around 20 to 22 minutes. Although cleared to return to gym training, Keith, a former Down goalkeeper, believes his hurling career with club Ballycran is now over, saying he doesn't want to put his wife and two young children through the risk of a repeat episode.