Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Man given CPR after collapsing at the gym
A GYM worker and two nurses performed CPR on a man who collapsed while exercising and stopped breathing.
Suzie Hally, general manager of the Fit4Less gym in Douglas Road, today said if it not been for the quick actions of first aider Ian McLeish and two nurses who were in the gym, the man would have died at the scene.
Suzie, who has worked at the gym for 10 years, said the man had been in an exercise class and had then gone on to a rowing machine before the incident happened.
She said: “He has been a member here for about 10 years so was well used to the machine.
“He suddenly grabbed his chest and collapsed.
“First aider Ian McLeish was on hand and put him in the recovery position.
“Ian saw he had stopped breathing, so started CPR.
“There were two nurses in the gym at the time and they took over the CPR. Then the ambulance arrived very quickly.
“It took a defibrillator, CPR and a shot of adrenaline to bring him back to life, but they managed to do it. If the ambulance hadn’t arrived so quickly it might have been a different outcome — he was very, very lucky.”
The man was rushed by ambulance to Ninewells Hospital for treatment following the incident last Wednesday.
Ian, who has been a personal trainer at the gym for only three months, said: “I was called across to assist and the man’s condition became critical. As I was on the phone to the ambulance service, the nurses took over CPR until the paramedics got there with a defibrillator.
“They brought him back to life. I really hope I helped but I’m not the hero. The nurses in the gym were amazing — it was them and the paramedics who are the true heroes.”
Ian said that after the ambulance left he was “shaking like a leaf” .
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We attended an incident at the Fit4Less gym at Douglas Road. One ambulance and one paramedic response unit were sent and arrived within one minute 40 seconds. A man in his sixties was transferred to Ninewells Hospital.”
The man remained in a critical condition in hospital today.