"You hear the stories, but you never think it's going to happen in your store," Monte said.

As the store manager Monte, alongside an off-duty nurse, was charged with keeping his employee alive until paramedics could attend the scene on what he described as the "busiest day of the year" just before Christmas.

They administered CPR and were forced to utilise the store's defibrillator when Peter stopped breathing.

In the months since the incident, the St John paramedics have said Monte's efforts undoubtedly saved Peter.

Today, Monte was recognised by St John for his Christmas-time heroics, and received a Save a Life Award.

"It's a nice gesture but at the end of the day the award is actually seeing Peter here in front of me," he said.

"Nothing can compare to that, to see Peter there, to see him well that's all I care about."

Peter does not remember much of day and cannot recall the medical emergency at all, but said he is very grateful for Monte's training and quick thinking.

"He's the one who held my life, the one who saved my life."

Peter was transported to Darwin and then Adelaide for treatment. He said while he is on the road to recovery, he is still strictly following his doctor's orders.

Monte was trained in CPR and how to operate a defibrillator as part of the workplace requirements for his job, but he wants to see everybody learn these skills because they never know when it might be needed.

"For any businesses out there, thinking about should they have a defib or not, I strongly recommend it... just think of all the positives that little machine can do."

He said his training kept him focused on Peter's wellbeing rather than any feelings of panic.

"I've seen Peter on the floor... he was taking breaths that didn't sound right... we knew it was pretty serious.

"It didn't seem real... for me it was concentration, I was trying to remember my training... it was all about just trying to keep in rhythm (for CPR)."

Peter is part of a very fortunate group as more than 90 per cent of Australian heart attack victims die, resulting in about 27,000 deaths every year.

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