Museum’s tribute to ‘King of Hearts’

Defibrillator pioneer’ s tale

It’s one of the biggest lifesavers in the 21st century.

But few people will be aware that the man who invented the portable defibrillator served with the Gordon Highlanders in the Second World War.

Dr Frank Pantridge, posted to Singapore in 1940, aged 24, was attached to the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders as their medical officer and played a significant part in the hostilities between the Allies and Japan.

The Irishman went on to became a leading specialist in cardiology and recognised that many heart-attack victims were dying before they reached hospital.

This led to him creating a defibrillator prototype, powered by car batteries, in 1965, which enabled patients to be given immediate treatment.

This week Irish author Cec Lowry, who is working on a new book From The Heart Of The River Kwai, The Portable Defibrillator Is Born, visited Stewart Mitchell, a historian at the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen.

He has investigated Frank Pantridge’s incident- packed life and made the discovery about his link to the heart-reviving device.

“His courage under fire was remarkable and it was recognised by the award of the Military Cross,” he said.

“After the fall of Singapore he became a prisoner of war and was transported to work on the infamous ThaiBurma Railway, where almost 40% of POWs died because of tropical diseases, malnutrition and cruel treatment from their captors.

“Yet, even in these circumstances, he worked wonders and showed the sort of resilience and bravery that amazes those of us who research the history of these times.”

There is now a picture board at the Gordon Highlander Museum, highlighting the pioneering role played by the remarkable character, who died in 2004, aged 88.

Mr Mitchell added: “It’s strange to think that a device which we now take for granted and see in almost every public place sprung from the imagination of a man who suffered terrible privations thousands of miles away in the 1940s.”

HERO: Frank Pantridge, whose courage under fire earned him the Military Cross

The board celebrating Dr Pantridge at the museum