Carl Mason used his first-aid training to save the life of an elderly man after he collapsed outside Costain Skanska JV’s Crossrail worksite at Bond Street, in central London earlier this month.

General foreman Mason responded to a radio call for assistance and arrived to find the man on Davies Street unable to breathe.

A number of people were trying to assist the man but no one knew what to do until Mason arrived to put him in the recovery position and free his airway.

Mason administered first aid for at least 10 minutes, clearing the man’s airway with a radio aerial while following instructions from paramedics by phone until the ambulance arrived.

Mason said: “He was turning blue and he would have died without having his airways cleared.

“The man’s tongue kept collapsing and blocking his airways, but I used a radio aerial to keep his tongue free for him to breathe.

“Being a trained first aider, it has become second nature to administer first aid when needed.”