A man who collapsed in a shopping centre with his eighth heart attack was brought back from the dead by two hero lifesavers.
Wheelchair-bound Robert Wishart, 63, was in TK Maxx in Kirkcaldy when he felt unwell and slumped to the side. As his distraught family looked on, shoppers Elizabeth Anderson and Megan Davidson rushed to the rescue.
Discovering he had no pulse, Elizabeth, 29, an active schools co-ordinator with Balwearie High’s PE department, and Megan, 21, a volunteer with Kinghorn lifeboat, put their first-aid training to good use and began CPR.
For 15 desperate minutes, Elizabeth pumped Robert’s chest while Megan gave rescue breaths and they finally managed to restart his heart just as paramedics arrived.
As Robert recovered in hospital, his grateful daughter Yvonne Kerr said she did not have the words to express her feelings for the two women.
“They were amazing,” she said. “If they hadn’t been there, my dad wouldn’t have made it.”
The drama unfolded last Wednesday as Robert, better known as Titch, shopped with wife Sandra and twin daughters Yvonne and Christine (38).
Robert, a double amputee who has diabetes and has suffered seven previous heart attacks, suddenly announced he felt dizzy.
“The next minute he slumped to one side and he wasn’t breathing,” said Yvonne.
“I couldn’t get a signal on my phone to dial 999 so I just started screaming and ran downstairs to get my sister. When I came back up, the girls had dad on the floor and were doing CPR.”
Two police officers who happened to be nearby saw the commotion and managed to contact the ambulance service. Elizabeth, who coaches East Fife Ladies FC in her spare time, said she went into autopilot when she heard Yvonne’s screams.
“Megan was already there and wediscovered he had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.
“We got him breathing again for about five minutes but he died again before the paramedics arrived. The paramedics injected something into his veins and shocked him twice before getting him stabilised in the ambulance.”
Robert was taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy before being transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he is still recovering.
Elizabeth added: “We do Heartstart at work, which is first aid, but I’ve never done anything like this for real before.”
Megan said she had managed to stay calm and focused while performing her life-saving skills, but the seriousness of the situation sunk in later.
“I’m just glad I was able to help until the paramedics arrived,” she said.
“On the lifeboat, we are trained to a high standard in terms of first aid and the course provided by the RNLI is one of the best available.
“There was some suggestion from other people that we should leave him in his wheelchair, or put him in the recovery position until the ambulance arrived, but I know from my training that those first minutes are
critical and Liz and I agreed that it was important to get him on the ground and start CPR straight away.”
Although Elizabeth and Megan are both now abroad on separate holidays, they have been in touch with Robert’s family and are delighted to hear he is progressing well.
“I wish him and his family all the best as it was a very traumatic experience for them all,” said Megan.