Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes has been hailed as a hero for assisting an unwell passenger during a flight.

Susanna Lawson, 49, from Manchester, was seated just behind Fernandes on their easyJet journey to Lisbon, Portugal, when she observed the United captain spring into action after a man seemed to faint.

Lawson recounted how the Portuguese star called for assistance and remained with the stricken man until cabin crew took over.

Describing the incident, Lawson said to PA news agency: "At some point during the flight, Bruno got up and went to the back, presumably to the toilet. After a couple of minutes, we heard, 'Can we get help? We need help. Can we get some assistance?'

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She continued: "We turned around and Bruno was there and a gentleman looked like he was passing out and Bruno had caught him.

"The other stewards went running up the plane to help and luckily there was a spare seat right at the back, so they all got the gentleman into the seat. Bruno stayed with him, for, I think I lost track of time five or 10 minutes."

Lawson, who is the co-founder of a digital word-of-mouth app named Circle of Trust, was en route to a tech conference in the Portuguese capital on Monday morning alongside fellow Manchester delegates.

She later confirmed that the passenger who fell ill was "absolutely fine", having managed to stand and walk through the aircraft, and she praised Fernandes for his calmness throughout the ordeal.

"I think it was just, 'oh my goodness, what are the chances of somebody being poorly right when the Man United captain is standing right in front of you?" she said.

"What an absolutely lovely man. He did it and didn't make a big deal out of it. (The air stewards) just called for help and help came.

After touching down, Lawson managed to snap a selfie with Fernandes and his Manchester United colleague Diogo Dalot, who was also on the flight, and took the opportunity to commend the midfielder for his assistance to the sick passenger.

"I basically said to Bruno, 'what you did back there was really lovely, it was great that you were there to be able to help'," she recounted. It's just nice to be reminded that they (celebrities) are just normal people out there."

Despite her allegiance to Manchester City, she admitted feeling "quite excited" upon seeing Fernandes board the aircraft.

"The ridiculous thing is is we're a blue family we support Manchester City!"