A 47-YEAR-old pastor died after his heart stopped beating, but came back to life after “the power of prayer” saved him.

Father-of-five and Reverend Chris Wickland, from Fareham, was jumping at a trampoline park with three of his youngest children.

But when he was getting ready to go, he headed to the changing rooms at Flip Out, in Chandler’s Ford, and started being sick.

He suddenly collapsed, after someone told staff, they rushed to administer CPR, but he had stopped breathing for 15 minutes.

Staff used a defibrillator four times to restart his heart, and he was then rushed to hospital - but has since made a full recovery.

Chris, from the Living Word Pentecostal Church in Fareham, said: “Luckily, someone alerted the Flip Out staff and they ran over and realised the severity of the situation.

“They put me in to the recovery position and then Ryan Wootton, the Flip Out manager, began administering CPR.

“When they first came to me I was still conscious - my eyes were following Ryan around the room and my pulse was kind of weak. But then it just stopped. I had just gone, died, my heart gave out.”

While he was treated in Southampton General Hospital, his wife Tracey, also a Reverend, set up a worldwide praying circle online.

He stayed in hospital for three weeks after being put into a two-day induced coma.

According to Chris, hospital staff said he had suffered a cardiac arrest, but did not know what had caused it.

Chris added: “No-one knows why it happened.

"I’m fit, I live healthily, and there has been no damage on my heart, even though the hospital staff told my wife I would die or suffer from permanent brain damage.

“I’ve seen quite a lot of miracles, and this was down to the power of prayer. This is a miracle that is all down to divine providence and the very quick actions of some people.

“My congregation and other Christians around the world were also praying for me. All this power was harnessed to keep me alive. I’m not lucky, I’m blessed.”