A hurler from Northern Ireland has spoken out after helping to save a life on his way to work on Friday morning.
Neil McManus, who is a hurler for Antrim and Cushendall, was commuting at 7.30am on August 5 when someone on their way home to Glengormley had a heart attack in their car.
Thankfully, a shop nearby had a defibrillator and Neil, alongside a woman named Emma who had CPR knowledge, managed to help him until emergency services arrived.
Read more: Belfast group running free CPR lessons to teach public vital skill
"I was lucky to be at hand, driving along the road at the right time," Neil told Jerome Quinn after Cushendall's Bath Shack Antrim SHC opening game win.
"Emma, who is well-equipped with CPR knowledge, arrived and spent a few minutes with him, getting him around and thankfully the ambulance crew were there quickly on hand. It was a different morning than the regular morning commute."
Speaking about a personal experience relating to his own dad having a heart attack, Neil stressed the importance for widespread CPR knowledge and for rural communities in particular to be self-sufficient in this respect.
He said GAA communities in Northern Ireland have "really bought into that", with defibrillators now becoming a common site in many GAA premises.
Neil added: "My father had a heart attack in the golf club and made it home in time for us to ring the emergency services. A local man called Joe Burns was one of our first responders and was at the house very very quickly. Thankfully he brought him around very quickly.
"In rural communities it's very important we're equipped to be self-sufficient and I think that lady, Emma, saved somebody's life on the very same road less than a fortnight ago through CPR again.
"I think t's important especially for rural communities, and I think a lot of GAA communities have really bought into that, you'll see defibrillators on a lot of the walls around GAA premises and the more widespread they are the better.
"Hopefully someday soon our government will see some sense and CPR training will go onto the national curriculum."
VIDEO CREDIT: Jerome Quinn Media
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