Oncology nurse Sarah Sloman helps perform CPR on a man found face down in the water.

A Honiton nurse helped to save a man’s life on the first day of a holiday in Majorca.

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital oncology nurse Sarah Sloman, of Otter Valley Park, was holidaying in the resort of Cala D’or earlier this month, with her husband Adam and 20-month-old daughter Lily, when a 77-year-old French man was found face down in the water.

The 27-year-old told the Midweek Herald that she was with her family on the beach when they heard a commotion and saw a man being pulled out of the sea.

Sarah joined a group of nurses, who were also on the public beach, as they started to perform cardiac massage and she assisted with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“I like to think I played my part, but it was very much a team effort from everyone who was on the beach,” says Sarah.

“I would hope someone else in my position, with the knowledge I have, would have done the same for a member of my family.”

Sarah later left the scene, when a doctor and paramedics arrived, but was amazed to see the man “come round” from her balcony.

“For him to come around was phenomenal,” she said.

“ We weren’t sure how long he had been in the water.

“To my knowledge, he survived,” she added.

Having originally planned to holiday in Cornwall, she says she feels privileged to have been able to help.

“It was a very surreal experience and not how I had anticipated the first morning of my holiday.

“It was the first time I had done cardiac massage outside of a hospital environment, as it is normally done by doctors.

“I never thought in a million years that I would need to on a beach in Majorca.”

She added: “I am just a normal, qualified nurse who saw a situation and intervened and tried to help the best I could.”

Despite the dramatic start to her family holiday, the rest of her six night stay in the resort went without incident.