Freemasons say thank you to first aid group
St Andrew’s donation
Cambuslang freemasons have donated cash to the organisation that trained the man who saved the life of a former master of the lodge.
Jim McDonald collapsed while walking down the street last year and his life was saved by Gareth Tate, from Cumbernauld.
Jim was a former master of Lodge Cambuslang Royal Arch No 114, and the freemasons have now donated £500 to St Andrew’s First Aid.
Jim said: “You never expect to suffer a heart attack but I’m grateful someone had the skills to help me when it happened to me.
“Without Gareth’s intervention I’m positive that the situation would not have worked out so well.
“This donation is our way of saying thank you.”
Jim has been recovering steadily since the incident last year.
When it happened, Gareth performed essential CPR on Jim and remained with him until an ambulance arrived. Gareth said: “When you learn first aid, you hope that you’ll never need to use it.
“However, when I saw that a man was suffering a cardiac arrest, I knew it was time to put my CPR skills into action.
“I’m just so pleased that Jim is recovering well.”
Stuart Callison, chief executive of St Andrew’s First Aid, said: “It’s fantastic that Gareth felt confident and ready to perform CPR on Jim when he needed it.
“First aid skills don’t take long to learn but, in situations like this, they really do save lives.
“We very much appreciate all donations for our charity but they have a special significance when there is a personal story behind them.
“These funds will be used to deliver more first aid training, helping us achieve our aspiration of creating a nation of lifesavers.”
St Andrew’s First Aid was formed in 1882.
They work alongside the statutory services to deliver emergency support to communities in times of crisis.