A COUPLE from Largs have been hailed as heroes after saving the life of a motorist.
June and Peter Bowyer were travelling by car to buy a Christmas tree last month when they saw a vehicle being driven erratically on the A760.
After crossing from one side of the road to the other in front of the couple's car, the vehicle came to a sudden halt.
Several motorists stopped to help the driver, who was having a cardiac arrest.
June was able to use her coastguard training to help resuscitate the man at the side of the road, as former firefighter Peter quickly contacted the emergency services.
The motorist received further treatment once fire and ambulance crews arrived at the scene.
June, 59, said: "We were on our way to go and get a Christmas tree when the car stopped in front of us and a few of the other cars stopped as people wondered, 'What is going on here?'
"I could see that the motorist's lips were purple and after two people managed to help him out of the vehicle onto the pavement area, I was able to give immediate CPR while Peter phoned for an ambulance and a fire engine who had a defibrillator to help.
"I took his pulse and there was no pulse, and I started doing the CPR. He came back to life and started breathing again while we had the paramedics on the phone. He was turning blue but I was delighted when I could see he was coming back and the colour returning to his body.
"I knew how to do CPR after being trained by the late David McDonald who helped start the First Responders - I was an early first responder not long after it started, and knew exactly what to do.
"That vital CPR helped to save lives and it goes to show you how important the training was. The fire engine arrived first with the defibrillator. The ambulance was delayed but when it did come they checked his pulse."
The motorist who suffered the cardiac arrest is a local taxi driver from Lochwinnoch and his family have been in contact with June thanking her for saving his life.
June said: "I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers and was told, 'Thank you so much that my dad is alive for Christmas,' from the family, which was lovely. I lost my own father at Christmastime a number of years ago, so I was just delighted that I could help. All I was thinking about was saving his life - that is all that mattered to me.
"The motorist is a local taxi driver from Lochwinnoch and everyone knows him through there. He was flat out with no pulse, so it is such a relief now to know that he is okay."
The incident took place on the busy A760 road at Lochwinnoch near the old gym and the bridge area over the loch.
June was a coastguard for many years in Largs and worked alongside Kenny McCaig, who featured in the Largs and Millport News a few months ago after he received pioneering treatment for his heart arteries.
Peter is also well known in the community as a former fire chief, who served Largs for over 30 years in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, working out of Largs Fire Station.
June added: "I think for Peter and me, we like to help people when they need help and it is something that is just in our nature, and it was fortunate that we were there to help and able to administer the CPR which David MacDonald taught me all those years ago.
"It is always important to give something back and to help others, and comes back to you in different ways."
