A 64-year-old cyclist, who was saved by a defibrillator after suffering a heart attack on a notorious East Lothian hill, has set a new personal record on the route.
James Martin, a semi-retired banker from North Berwick, was cycling with his friends through Gifford when he keeled over.
“We set off at 9:29 and I was dead by 11am. My friends and I had stopped for a coffee and were leaving the village on a notorious hill called Cockles Brae.
“I recall leaving the Lanterne Rouge Café, but can’t remember anything else until 12 hours later. I’m never the quickest on the hills and I was at the back, when my friend saw me keeling over. My heart had just stopped, and basically, I just fell off.”
In the fall, Jamie had broken his shoulder and sustained bruised ribs from the CPR. ECG tests a few months later show that his heart muscle is fully recovered after a stent was fitted into his blocked artery.
“I’ve since been back up there and set a personal record,” he said. “I now have more blood going around my body than I have had for a few years because that artery was just getting steadily blocked.
“But I know how lucky I am to have lived to tell the tale.”
Gordon Steel, a retired distiller, was one of the people who performed CPR. He said, “The real lesson for me was keep going. We worked on his for at least 20 minutes, and it was a team effort.
“We gave him four or five shocks with the defib, and each time his heart started but then his pulse faded away.
“The last time we did it, he sounded like a diesel engine, and then his breathing started with some strength and his heart began to beat unassisted. I was very glad to hear he made a full recovery.”
> Passers-by use defibrillator to save cyclist’s life after he is knocked off bike
James also added that “I was aware from an NHS Scot Heart Trial in 2023 that I had small calcification particles in my artery, and I was taking a statin and aspirin to manage this. Perhaps the cycling incident outcome might have been catastrophic otherwise.”
He recently met with the people who saved him, Gordon Steele, and Eleanor Hulme, a retired medic and member of Gifford Community Council, who maintains the village defibrillator.
Eleanor said: “I happened to be passing the scene as the incident occurred, so of course I stopped. Jamie’s friends had already arranged for the defib, which is attached to a wall opposite a popular Gifford café, to be brought to the scene.
“He was in very deep trouble and had five shocks from the defib. Several times, when no shock was advised, he was kept alive only by the chest compressions.
“Given the rural location, the ambulance arrived remarkably quickly within 20 minutes; however, there is no doubt that the defib helped save his life.”
Eleanor is a ‘Circuit Guardian’, a volunteer who ensures that the defibrillator is ready and kept up to date. This is part of ‘The Circuit’, a national defibrillator network that helps emergency services locate the devises.
Jamie was able to meet and personally thank the people who saved his life, as well as the NHS Ambulance Service, Medic One team, and the Royal Infirmary Trauma team.
The meeting was organised by the British Heart Foundation Scotland to encourage people to register their defibrillators and help improve emergency response.
David McColgan, Head of BHF Scotland, said: “Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest, so it is wonderful that help was on hand quickly for Jamie.
“His extraordinary story is another reminder about the importance of fast access to public defibs, and it’s great news that over 10,000 are now registered on The Circuit in Scotland.
“It is vital that emergency services know where defibs are so they can direct people to access them quickly and easily. Worryingly, all too often when someone has a cardiac arrest, the location of the nearest available defib is unknown because many of these lifesaving devices are not visible to ambulance services.”
Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by up to 10 per cent. Members of the public can find their nearest register defibrillator at defibfinder.uk
9 thoughts on ““We set off at 9.29am and I was dead by 11am”: Cyclist who “keeled over” after suffering heart attack brought back to life thanks to defibrillator, quick-thinking friends, and passers-by”
Well done to everyone
Well done to everyone involved in making this story have a happy outcome, including those who put in the work to make defibs so widley available. I just checked the defibfinder site and was surprised to see that there are 10 just within a mile of my current location.
The positive outcome is a
The positive outcome is a result of a team effort and lots of things coming together, and is a great example of the value in community defibrilators and people being aware of where they are, and having the confidence to use them and to keep up with the CPR.
I am a qualified first aider and only ever had to practice with a fake defib, but it does get you thinking about what you could do in any given situation, and if faced with something similar, how to interact with any less qualified people also there. Ideally, most people would be trained in CPR and learn how to use a defib (they are really easy, they tell you want to do and you cannot make things worse), even if they don’t want to do full first aid training, especially if they are put off by the thought of blood.
I still remember my first First Aid trainer telling us that a lot of people worry about doing harm, but if someone’s heart has stopped, then you cannot make things worse. You don’t want to be breaking ribs, but if it happens and a broken rib is better than being dead etc.
But even things like knowing where the nearest defib is, having someone who can go and get it while someone trained in CPR is doing their thing. CPR can be hard work, so having more than one person who is trained in CPR means they can take turns.
But other really valuable roles is having someone who can call the ambulance and accurately describe what is happening and direct them to the patient, and someone who is on the lookout for the ambulance to wave them down and take them straight to the patient. It might be obvious if a group of cyclists are doing CPR at the side of the road, but especially if you are indoors, having a person ready to point them to the correct door can save valuable seconds.
And a properly funded NHS. And a properly funded care system. etc.
Hollywood films and TV have
Hollywood films and TV have given people a false impression of defibrillators. They think that a shock will start a stopped heart, whereas it actually shoicks a heart back to a “normal” rhythm if it is in fibrillation. Which is exactly what happened in this case. The CPR kept the heart pumping and the defib sorted the rhythm. Well done to all involved and good luck to the gentleman.
Beatnik69 wrote:
Quite right and Fiona clearly knows this which is why she didn’t say anything that could remotely be construed as thinking otherwise.
Absolutely and I hope I didn
Absolutely and I hope I didn’t give the impression that I thought otherwise. I probably should have made a new post rather than replying.
Ah, understood.
Ah, understood.
What a story ? – congrats to
What a story ? – congrats to all involved especially the guy himself ?
This is indeed a good outcome
This is indeed a good outcome! I used to be on cardiac arrest duty in hospitals and had to keep the bleep with me at all times- in those circumstances we hardly ever saved them, largely because the arrest call came out for everybody who was found unresponsive. A lot of them were close to death anyway. The patient on question here was previously relatively fit, but carried a risk factor known as a calcified plaque which was just waiting to rupture, cause a rapid clot which led to a heart electical failure. Good work by the resuscitators!
I am a first aid responder
I am a first aid responder and renew my qualification every three years. Fortunately I have never had to do CPR as the ‘opportunity’ has never arisen. Should it ever, I hope I am as calm and proficient as the people in this incident. Excellent work.