A former army personal training instructor who visited the gym five days a week, Billy Clark was the picture of health.
Or so he thought until he suffered a heart attack during a workout at Dundee’s Gardyne Sports Centre.
He owes his life to two staff members who quickly put their first aid training into action.
John Burke, 22 , and Taylor McColl, 20, performed CPR on Billy, 52, and used the centre’s defibrillator.
Now Billy is to repay John and Taylor’s lifesaving response by raising money for more defibrillators for Dundee and Angus College, which the centre is part of.
He said: “If it wasn’t for them, I’d be dead.”
How John and Taylor saved Billy after heart attack
Driving instructor Billy was midway through an hour on the cross trainer when he started to feel below par.
After a short rest and stretch, he got back on the machine but moments later collapsed onto the floor.
He said: “The next thing I know I’m waking up and there’s a paramedic over me.”
Sports centre duty manager John and leisure attendant Taylor were at the reception nearby when they heard a thud they initially thought was a weight being dropped.
They saw Billy lying on the floor and leapt into action.
As Taylor knelt down beside Billy to check for a response, John evacuated the gym and brought in the defibrillator from reception.
Thinking Billy may have suffered a seizure they didn’t expect to use the defibrillator, a device which gives a jolt of energy to restart the heart in a cardiac arrest.
But then John said: “Billy’s face went from bright purple to very flushed and white very quickly.”
They realised he wasn’t breathing and that the noises he was making were agonal gasps, which are involuntary and insufficient respirations people can make when they are dying.
Using the defibrillator
Having already called for an ambulance the pair took it turns to perform CPR.
Then they attached the pads of the defibrillator and followed the instructions to deliver a shock to Billy’s heart.
Fellow staff member Ciaran McNally was off duty but using the gym at the time and helped.
From the time Billy collapsed it took only seven minutes for the ambulance to arrive but Taylor said: “If felt like an hour!”
Sports centre staff have monthly first aid training, including in defibrillation.
But John said: “The real thing is a lot different from a training scenario.”
Billy said: “It must have been as big a shock for them to have to do it in real life as it was for me.”
Right place, time, people and training
He had suffered a blood clot in his heart. At Ninewells Hospital two stents were fitted during an angioplasty procedure.
His treatment is ongoing and Billy remains under assessment – ordered to stay away from the gym for now.
He said: “I had never had any problems before. I was 26 years in the military and was fit and well.
“You think you’re indestructible and then something like this happens.
“Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time with the right people who had the right training. That’s why I’m here.”
And that’s why Billy is raising money to provide more defibrillators for Dundee and Angus College.
He wants to ensure the quickest possible response for anyone else in a medical emergency where every second counts.
Each year, he and wife Julie festoon their Kingsway home with Christmas lights and collect donations for charity.
This year money raised will pay for more kits to be placed around college buildings.
Taylor said more defibrillators would make a “massive difference”.
She said: “You never know where something like this is going to happen. It could happen to anyone.”
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