Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Defibrillator is a lifesaver
A defibrillator donated by Coatbridge’s Kieran Mcdade Foundation helped to save the life of a woman who collapsed outside the Tudor Hotel in Airdrie.
The stricken woman became unwell while waiting at a bus stop on Saturday, August 28.
But fortunately help was at hand as the defibrillator on the wall outside the nearby West End Bar was put to crucial use.
The Kieran Mcdade Foundation – named after the Coatbridge teenager who tragically collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest while training with Dunbeth Football Club in August 2016 – fitted the defibrillator, which was the organisation’s 100th machine, two years ago.
Two kind-hearted passers-by stopped to help the woman and initially ran into the Tudor looking for a defibrillator.
However, a 999 call handler directed them to the nearest machine located at the pub across the road.
The pair went to get the defibrillator and off-duty nurse Mhairi Buchanan stopped to help apply the life-saving device.
The woman was brought round on the street and when paramedics arrived she was responding.
She is now reportedly recovering well and is expected to be released from hospital soon.
The Kieran Mcdade Foundation has thanked West End Bar owner Scott Rae and its staff who ensure the defibrillator is always ready to put to use.
The charity’s co-founder, Derek Murphy, said:“we always wanted to kind of have Kieran’s name remembered.
“You never want a wee boy like that forgotten about.
“For someone to have their life saved, effectively in Kieran’s name, is so emotional.
“To know that somebody’s life has been saved on the back of the work that the foundation has done is quite humbling.
“But none of this is possible without so many different people.”
The West End Bar tweeted:“another positive result with the public access defibrillator. A lady took not well further down Alexander Street, just past the Tudor.
“A member of the public called 999 and got directed to the defib. Hopefully she makes a speedy recovery.”