AFTER nurse Kevin Elliott died following a heart attack at Newport railway station last January, his devastated family decided to say a practical 'thank you' for the efforts of those who tried to save him.

Mr Elliott, 63, was waiting for a train on the last leg of his journey home from a trip to Thailand when he died, on January 11, just days after his retirement.

Daughter Sam De Abreu, from Worcester, made a heartbreaking journey to the station the following day to pick up his belongings - but yesterday she returned on an altogether more hopeful mission.

Hundreds of pounds raised from funeral donations have gone to purchase a lifesaving defibrillator for the station.

The machine - provided through the charity Cariad - will be the second to be based at the station.

The existing machine has been used there, and also at other sites in Newport city centre, such as Wetherspoons on nearby Cambrian Road.

"If I can do something positive and help raise awareness for everybody to have every possible chance of survival, that will be great," said Mrs De Abreu.

"Sadly, my dad didn't make it. But I know he had that chance because he had the best care. The people who helped him are amazing."

A father-of-three, and a grandfather-of-two, Mr Elliott was an operating theatre nurse for 40 years, primarily in the hospital at Hereford, but also at Brecon and at Nevill Hall in Abergavenny.

"He dedicated his life to helping people, and he travelled the world for pleasure and for humanitarian reasons," said Mrs De Abreu, who added that Mr Elliott would take sterile medical and surgical instruments no longer required by the NHS to countries where such vital equipment was much-needed.

She said the efforts of station staff and passengers to try to save her father's life restored the family's "faith in human nature" and they were very grateful, and comforted to know he had not been alone.

Station manager Samantha Edgerton said the family's donation would have "a massive positive effect".