A man has thanked two police officers who saved his life with CPR after he took ill picking his wife up from work. It had just been a normal day for Colin Jackson who had been on a run before going to collect his wife Diane.
However, it was at this moment the 64-year-old’s life was turned upside down as Diane noticed he wasn’t speaking properly and not acting himself. What she didn’t know was that Colin’s heart was stopping and he was going into cardiac arrest.
It was a moment of sheer panic for Diane as she scrambled to help her husband – but two police officers close by at the local Tesco getting food for their evening shift would be the couple’s knights in shining armour. The cops ran over and pulled Colin from his car – giving him life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) – before one of the duo ran to retrieve the supermarket’s defibrillator.
It was this quick thinking from the officers that gave Colin a shot at survival as they rushed him in their police car to hospital.
Now, a month on from the terrifying moment when he could have lost his life, and recovering in the comfort of his own home, tennis enthusiast Colin says that if it wasn’t for the fast actions of the officers, CPR training and a slice of luck being on his side, he wouldn’t be here today.
He told our sister title, the Paisley Daily Express: “I remember nothing at all about the incident but I had been told that the two police officers were the reason I am still here. I went to pick up my wife from work and, after speaking with her, she said that I stopped the car and had my foot jammed on the pedal.
“She did amazing to help in what was such a scary situation for her. I am lucky that there were two police officers round the corner who came rushing over and took me out the car and gave me CPR, with one of them going back to the local Tesco to get a defibrillator.
“The officer who was giving me CPR had just passed his training the week before and, despite him feeling the cracks in my ribs, he kept going and helped me come back round.
“I finally found where all the luck had been after all these years! I have never had any problems before with only a stitching when I played football 40 years ago.
"This just shows that even if you are healthy, something like this can happen to anyone. The hospital staff and the police officers did amazing work and I would like to thank them for everything.”
Colin has kept everyone up to date with his progress on Facebook as he now has an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICB) fitted into his heart which will be able to perform defibrillation should he take ill again. Nurses and doctors had scanned Colin’s heart but there was no scarring which ruled out a heart attack.
Once he felt better, Colin met with the two police officers who saved his life and described the reunion like catching up with “two mates” he hadn’t seen for a long time.
PC Jenner, who helped give CPR, said: “Being in my probation, I did not expect to deal with an incident of this magnitude so early in my service. After meeting with Colin and seeing him on the mend, it’s definitely an incident I’m proud to have even been involved in and is something I’ll reflect on for the rest of my career.”
Partner PC Reid added: “The incident confirmed how important the training we undergo yearly really is. I was delighted to meet Colin after the incident and to see him doing so well – definitely a happy ending story to tell my children in years to come.”
Sergeant Sharon Crawford, supervisor of the officers, says the police is “proud” of the actions of the two officers as she also reaffirmed the importance of CPR training. “I am extremely proud of how PCs Reid and Jenner conducted themselves as well as the rest of the team who had rushed to the scene to offer support,” they said.
“As part of basic police training, all officers are trained to carry out first aid including CPR and the use of defibrillators in order to provide immediate assistance to those in need. We all wish Mr Jackson and his family well for the future and are delighted to have helped.”
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