A Scots pensioner who suffered a cardiac arrest after collapsing at a golf club has thanked his hero pal who saved his life.
Jim Stevenson, 86, was due to meet his friend, Alister Brown, for a drink at Largs Golf Club in North Ayrshire on Friday, March 11 but when he arrived, he started to feel ill.
The retired general manager from Largs began 'puffing and panting' and eventually collapsed, with alarm growing among his sports peers after he was unable to be brought back round.
Arriving around the same time, Alister, 73, realised his friend was not breathing and rushed to his aid alongside an off-duty nurse who was on scene at the time. He quickly administered CPR, while emergency services were called.
To this day, Jim says he has no recollection of the dramatic events that unfolded around him. He said: “I went to the bar and ordered two drinks then sat down at a table and waited for Alister to come, but I never touched a drop.
“I vaguely remember this image coming through the door, wearing a bright red pullover. I then went blank. The next thing I know is, I’m on my back. I don’t know how long I was there.
"I was surrounded by Alister, four paramedics, two ambulances outside, and other people, all working to keep me alive."
Alister said: “I walked across, took my jacket off and put it down on the table. I turned around to say ‘how are you doing?’ but it was obvious that things weren’t right. On further examination, Jim was not breathing.
"I instantly got him on the floor and started CPR. It was significant that CPR was started inside a minute, because as far as I could determine, he had just stopped breathing.”
Alister, who has been a Community First Responder since 2007, described how the 'stars aligned' after he deployed one of the public access defibs on the premises of the golf club which allowed him to kickstart Jim's heart.
The retired teacher is trained to deal with certain incidents such as cardiac arrests and strokes, meaning he was well-equipped to help his friend in his hour of need, and ultimately save him from imminent death.
He continued: “One shock in and that seemingly did the trick because things started to happen and there were signs of survival.
"We monitored the situation and the retired nurse, who was down at Jim’s hand, confirmed she could find a pulse and it was getting stronger, so we knew we were on the right road.
"CPR was started very quickly, there was a defib to hand, and Jim’s heart had a shockable rhythm. All these things came into play and I’m delighted to say it was a happy outcome."
Stricken Jim regained consciousness at the same time as two ambulances arrived, staffed by paramedics Mark Finnie from Kilwinning Station and Graeme Findlay from Greenock Station as well as technician Jason Slavin.
He is now recovering well, but Alister said his training was 'vital' in remedying what could have been an otherwise tragic event - while Jim insists he 'wouldn't be here today' if it wasn't for the skill and quick-thinking of his friend.
Jim said: “Life-saving work on the spot. How lucky can you get? Alister is a first responder and a friend. If Alister hadn’t been there, to use the defib, I wouldn’t be here today. It’s simple – this is life-saving work.”
Alister added: “I have to say, if it had been one of my colleagues from Largs instead of me there that day, I’m pretty confident the outcome would’ve been the same. The group training benefits us all."
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