Passenger spends 40 minutes battling to save man's life on Ryanair flight

Despite turbulence, a woman tried to resuscitate a passenger on board Ryanair flight which was diverted to Cork

The plane landed at Liverpool's John Lennon airport two hours later than expected (PA)

A woman fought to save the life of a man having a heart attack for forty minutes on a Ryanair flight, it was reported.

The plane was en route to Liverpool from Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands when the man had a heart-attack.

The plane was diverted to Cork in Ireland where the unnamed female passenger continued to work on the man, despite heavy turbulence.

The woman, who was travelling with her two children, responded to a call for a doctor on board, and came forward saying that she had “14 years working for airlines,” eyewitness Ms Dollah told the Liverpool Echo.

The man later died in hospital, but the passenger has been praised by others on board. Ms Dollah called the woman a “hero”. She continued, “because of the weather, when we were landing the plane tilted so much before we hit the ground, the whole plane screamed, but that woman never stopped."

"Her kids watched patiently, they didn’t flicker.The woman inspired me - I’ll never look at life the same again," said Ms Dollah told the Liverpool Echo.

The passenger was met by an ambulance when the plane landed but later passed away in hospital.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said, “The flight from Fuerteventura to Liverpool diverted to Cork after a customer became ill on board. The crew called ahead to request medical assistance, the aircraft landed normally and was met by medics. The customer was transferred to hospital, but sadly passed away. Ryanair extends its deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased and provided assistance during this difficult time.”