A beauty therapist who was clinically dead for 30 minutes after suffering a cardiac arrest in bed was saved by her pet dog who howled for help.

Joanna Mellor, 24, went into cardiac arrest after going to sleep next to her boyfriend Andrew Rayment, 27.

Upon discovering she wasn't breathing, the couple's five-year-old pet Labrador, Leo, began barking.

This woke Mr Rayment, who hurriedly dialled 999 and performed CPR on his girlfriend until paramedics arrived.

Incredibly, doctors said Miss Mellor's heart had stopped for 30 minutes before Mr Rayment managed to resuscitate her.

Miss Mellor, who lives with her boyfriend in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, has since been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome.

This is a condition in which she has an extra electrical connection in the heart, causing it to beat abnormally fast, triggering a cardiac arrest.

Miraculously, she has now made a full recovery.

She said: 'I owe my life to my dog and my boyfriend. If Leo hadn't woken Andrew up I might not be here today.

'I remember going to bed and drifting off the sleep and the next I know I'm in intensive care in hospital and told I'd suffered a heart attack.

'The doctors say I was technically dead because it took Andrew 30 minutes to get my heart started.

'Andrew said he woke up with Leo barking and jumping up at my side of the bed and going mad.

'He says he could tell something was wrong with me and dialled 999 and the operator talked him through CPR.

'At first the doctors said I might be at risk of brain damage and I couldn't feel my legs and one of my hands was all limp but I've now made a full recovery.'