I’ll raise a glass to my life- saving local
Quick-thinking landlord performs a ‘miracle’
A Pub regular has told how he owes his life to his local – after the landlord shocked him back to life following a cardiac arrest.
John McFarlane, 74, collapsed outside the Masonic Arms in Kirkcudbright, Dumfriesshire, where he has been a loyal customer for more than half a century.
The survival rate for such an attack is as low as 5% – but against all the odds John lived to tell the tale thanks to landlord Simon Jackson’s “miracle” rescue.
After an attempt by a local fireman to bring him back to life using CPR failed, Simon, 44, stepped into the breach.
He grabbed a defibrillator that had been installed in the popular pub three years ago but never used and dashed to where John lay.
“I thought, ‘ It’s now or never. I’ve just got to get him living again’,” said Simon.
“It’s an absolute miracle that you can bring someone back to life in front of your eyes.”
After three shocks from the life- saving device, John’s heart started beating again.
Simon’s wife LJ, 42, said: “We have saved one of our longeststanding regulars ... it’s not every pub that can say that.”
Retired power worker John admitted: “I will be eternally grateful to Simon for rushing at breakneck speed to bring me back.
“I have been a regular for years and even worked parttime in the bar in my twenties.
“I will even admit to downing the occasional half-pint before I was old enough.
“Now I am raising a glass to having my life saved by it.”
Simon, 44, is still recovering from the drama.
“I am totally astounded every time I see John come through the door now,” he said. “I have seen him dead and alive. I am a pub landlord with no medical training yet I have saved the life of one of our oldest customers.”
Simon recalled: “When I got to him he looked dead. He was grey and all his colour had drained from his face. It took three shocks to get him back.
“Each time he came back and then faded again and we continued till his heart started beating again.
“The ambulance paramedics then arrived and took over.”
John was rushed to intensive care at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary where doctors stabilised him.
He was then transferred to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire.
Heart specialists there implanted a tiny defibrillator to start his heart again should it stop in the future.
John has already been back to his local for a celebratory drink and to thank Simon for his heroics.
“I came back armed with some lovely flowers and plants in thanks to LJ and Simon,” he said.
“And I toasted my 74th birthday last Saturday with a modest red wine at the bar.
“With doctors’ permission I can manage a small whisky now.
“My partner Margaret got the fright of her life.
“She’s barely letting me out of her sight now. But I reckon I have a few years left in me.
“Many years ago I set a target of living to 84. So I’m aiming for at least another 10 years.”
The chance of surviving a cardiac arrest outside hospital is just 5%, according to Scottish Government figures.
Leading heart researcher Dr Mike Dodd said: “It’s wonderful to hear that a cardiac arrest patient has been saved.”
The Oxford University scientist added: “There should be a lifesaving pub in every town and village.”