A 20-year-old student from Oxford saved the life of a university professor after he fell from his bicycle and went into cardiac arrest.

Former Cheney School pupil, Joe Czajewski, rushed to help Steven Balbus after the incident in Headington last Wednesday (July 26).

“I saw the crash and realised straightaway that the gentleman was not Ok,” said Mr Czajewski.

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“I called 999 and started CPR but it felt like an eternity to get through.

“The operator took me through the technique and when the ambulance arrived the paramedics took over.”

“It was a horrible feeling afterwards,” he added.

“I knew I had done everything I could to help him, but I didn’t know if he was going to be okay.

“I had so much adrenaline and when the police arrived, they advised me to go home.”

The University of Manchester student explained that he had never done first aid training before but picked up the technique through videos he had watched online.

Mr Czajewski's quick thinking saved the 69-year-old’s life, and he is now recovering well in hospital.

Oxford Mail: Joe Joe (Image: Joe Czajewski)

His wife, Caroline Terquem started a social media appeal to find the young man who had helped her husband.

She posted on the community forum Nextdoor: “On Wednesday, July 26 at 5.40pm my husband fell from his bicycle and went into cardiac arrest at the corner of Bickerton Road and Old Road.

“A bystander called an ambulance and did CPR until the ambulance arrived. He saved my husband’s life.

“My husband is recovering very well and needless to say we are immensely grateful to this person.

Oxford Mail: Steven Balbus Steven Balbus (Image: Caroline Terquem)

“We would love to express our gratitude directly. If you recognise this person please get in touch.”

The post received hundreds of likes and one user managed to put Ms Terquem in touch with Joe after recognising the story.  

Ms Terquem, her husband and Mr Czajewski are now all planning on meeting up once Prof Balbus has come home from hospital.

She added: “It has been unbelievable and we have been through hell and back.

“But Steve is recovering well and he is very nearly back to normal.”

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Mr Czajewski, who studies physics at university, explained that that he had actually met Prof Balbus before when he took specialist science classes at school.

The physics professor was born in America and specialises in astronomy at the University of Oxford.

He has degrees in mathematics and physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a PhD in theoretical astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley.

He has won a number of awards for his work and recently has been developing a theory of the sun’s internal rotation.