Doctor saves sister after she collapses at marathon finishing line
A DOCTOR saved her sister’s life after she collapsed with a cardiac arrest at the end of a marathon.
Becky Robson, 39, and Michelle Macleod, 37, were both running in a family relay on the lsle of Harris, in the Outer Hebrides.
Mother-of-two Mrs Macleod collapsed after completing the final leg – but her sister Mrs Robson, a GP, gave her CPR and brought her back to life.
She said: ‘When I trained in CPR as a medical student, I never thought I would use it to resuscitate my sister.’
Mrs Robson reached the finish line minutes after her sister.
She added: ‘My husband Murdanie came running towards
‘I can’t recall anything ’
me and I thought he was going to tick me off for being late but he told me Michelle had collapsed.
‘I rushed toward her to see others gathered around, trying to revive her. Immediately I joined in and started CPR.’
Mrs Robson went straight into ‘doctor mode’, while her sister-inlaw, an intensive care unit nurse, was also on the scene.
Mrs Robson said: ‘We managed to get Michelle back in ten to 15 minutes. Had she had the cardiac arrest further down the road out of sight, she may not have survived.’
Mrs Macleod, a political researcher, said she remembered nothing of the race day in August.
She added: ‘I was part of the family relay in the marathon, running the last nine miles. But I can’t recall anything of the day and any memories of collapsing or being resuscitated have been wiped.
‘I was told that I finished and fell to the ground just moments after passing the finish. Luckily, I was near others and a defibrillator was handy.’
After being brought back to life, Mrs Macleod was taken to Western Isles Hospital, in Stornoway.
She was stabilised before being transferred to the intensive care unit of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
Back at the family home on the Isle of Lewis, her daughters, Lara, five, and Bethany, two, were being cared for by family members.
Mrs Macleod’s husband, Shonny, had travelled to the Glasgow hospital in the emergency air ambulance with his wife. Over the next 12 weeks she recovered well enough to send video messages to the rest of the family. She added: ‘I owe my life to my sister and everyone who saved me. I’m lucky to be alive to bring up two lovely wee girls.’
Doctors were unable to discover the cause of Mrs Macleod’s cardiac arrest. She has had a tiny defibrillator device fitted to her heart to restart it should she have another attack.
Only 3 per cent of Scots ever recover from cardiac arrests that occur outwith hospitals.