BEST FRIEND SAVED BY HIS CPR HERO
30-year-old suffers cardiac arrest on pitch
AFIT and healthy young man who collapsed from a heart attack has said he will be “forever grateful” to the best friend who saved his life.
Ewan Fraser suddenly became ill while playing hockey and collapsed on the pitch.
His childhood best friend Andrew Allan saw that the 30-year-old had stopped breathing and was turning blue so stepped in to begin chest compressions. His quick thinking – with help from their teammates – saved Ewan’s life.
Ewan said: “I feel like this is something I’ll never be able to repay Andrew and my teammates for.
“I just hope that if I was ever in the same position, I would have reacted in exactly the same way.
“I’ve always thought it important to be first aid trained and I’ve always believed if you can do something to help someone then you should.
“You really can’t do much more than helping to save someone’s life.
“I will be forever grateful to Andrew and my teammates for the actions they carried out that day.”
Andrew and Ewan met when they were four, grew up together and went to the same schools.
For the past 15 years they have played hockey together, training three times a week and playing at weekends for their club, the Clydesdale Hockey Club.
It was during a standard weekend game at the Auchenhowie pitches in Milngavie, on September 4, when Ewan became seriously unwell. With no known underlying health conditions or previous concerns, Ewan suddenly collapsed on the pitch suffering from a cardiac arrest.
Seeing that Ewan had stopped breathing and was turning blue, Andrew immediately began delivering chest compressions for close to 10 minutes, while he waited on an ambulance to arrive.
Andrew was closely supported by his teammates who quickly came to his assistance.
Ben Cosgove worked with Andrew to give Ewan rescue breaths during the process of CPR as Holly Steiger accessed the club defibrillator.
They were also helped by Euan Lindsay and Jack Mackenzie.
Luckily for Ewan, Andrew had previously taken a first aid training course delivered by St Andrew’s First Aid and while he never expected to have to use the knowledge and skills he gained, his quick, calm thinking and confidence in knowing what to do, came into their own in saving the life of his best friend.
Andrew said: “In some ways I feel like we just went into autopilot when Ewan collapsed, and we could see he wasn’t breathing.
“He was turning blue and my instincts just kicked in.
“I am so thankful that I remembered what to do and was able to help.
“It really hit home with Ewan being my best friend.
“But whether it was him or a stranger this happened to, my response would have been the same.
“What’s most important is that we had been given the training that we needed to know exactly how to react.
“First aid and CPR training is one of those things that you do, because you know it’s important, but you wish you never have to use.
“I’m just so glad I had done it and that I had the support of my teammates too.”
Since the incident, Ewan has made a speedy recovery, suffering no further health implications.
When receiving CPR for extended amounts of time, brain function can be impacted but since his recovery, Ewan has not suffered any mental trauma or functional loss.
Andrew is now supporting St Andrew’s First Aid, Scotland’s only dedicated first aid charity, as it calls for nominations to recognise extraordinary volunteers, organisations, businesses and individuals across the country, who have performed outstanding acts of first aid.
St Andrew’s First Aid is introducing
a new category to next year’s awards, a year which also marks its 140th anniversary.
The new award, Scotland’s Volunteer of the Year, will recognise an individual who has carried out inspiring work and made a positive impact in their community throughout the pandemic.
The Scottish First Aid Awards will be held on March 11 in Glasgow at Radisson Blu.
Stuart Callison, chief executive of St Andrew’s First Aid, said: “Ewan’s story highlights how important it is for life-saving skills to be common knowledge.
“A young, fit and healthy man suffering a cardiac arrest is not as unusual as many may think, and it’s so important that we know how to respond in these types of situations.
“Andrew’s quick thinking and delivery of CPR saved his friend’s life.
“He and his fellow teammates are excellent examples of just how important it is to be trained in first aid.
“This is a story that brings home the message that cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time and you simply never know when you might need someone to step in and save your life. As a charity, we are immensely proud to have Andrew help us launch our awards this year.”
For more information and to nominate someone who deserves to be recognised for their own actions and efforts, contact moyra.reid@firstaid.org.uk or see firstaid.org.uk/nominations