A 64-year-old cyclist, who was saved by a defibrillator after suffering a heart attack on a notorious East Lothian hill, has set a new personal record on the route.<\/p>\n
James Martin, a semi-retired banker from North Berwick, was cycling with his friends through Gifford when he keeled over.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe set off at 9:29\u00a0and I was dead by 11am. My friends and I had stopped for a coffee and were leaving the village on a notorious hill called Cockles Brae.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI recall leaving the Lanterne Rouge Caf\u00e9, but can\u2019t remember anything else until 12 hours later. I\u2019m never the quickest on the hills and I was at the back, when my friend saw me keeling over. My heart had just stopped, and basically, I just fell off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the fall, Jamie had broken his shoulder\u00a0and sustained bruised ribs from the CPR. ECG tests a few months later show that his heart muscle is fully recovered after a stent was fitted into his blocked artery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve since been back up there and set a personal record,\u201d he said. \u201cI now have more blood going around my body than I have had for a few years because that artery was just getting steadily blocked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know how lucky I am to have lived to tell the tale.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gordon Steel, a retired distiller, was one of the people who performed CPR. He said, \u201cThe real lesson for me was keep going. We worked on his for at least 20 minutes, and it was a team effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gave him four or five shocks with the defib, and each time his heart started but then his pulse faded away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last time we did it, he sounded like a diesel engine, and then his breathing started with some strength and his heart began to beat unassisted. I was very glad to hear he made a full recovery.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
> Passers-by use defibrillator to save cyclist’s life after he is knocked off bike<\/a><\/p>\n James also added that \u201cI was aware from an NHS Scot Heart Trial in 2023 that I had small calcification particles in my artery, and I was taking a statin and aspirin to manage this. Perhaps the cycling incident outcome might have been catastrophic otherwise.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He recently met with the people who saved him, Gordon Steele, and Eleanor Hulme, a retired medic and member of Gifford Community Council, who maintains the village defibrillator.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eleanor said: \u201cI happened to be passing the scene as the incident occurred, so of course I stopped.\u00a0Jamie\u2019s friends had already arranged for the defib, which is attached to a wall opposite a popular Gifford caf\u00e9, to be brought to the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe was in very deep trouble and had five shocks from the defib. Several times, when no shock was advised, he was kept alive only by the chest compressions.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the rural location, the ambulance arrived remarkably quickly within 20 minutes; however, there is no doubt that the\u00a0defib\u00a0helped save his life.\u201d<\/p>\n Eleanor is a \u2018Circuit Guardian\u2019, a volunteer who ensures that the defibrillator is ready and kept up to date. This is part of \u2018The Circuit\u2019, a national defibrillator network that helps emergency services locate the devises.<\/p>\n