Edinburgh lawyer's life saved by CPR and defibrillator after cardiac arrest

John Sinclair was in his late fifties and healthy last November when the unexpected happened.

The solicitor cycled home in Edinburgh after a long day at work, remembering it as a particularly taxing journey.

He began to feel unwell while sitting at the dinner table, placing his head in his hands as his “vision closed in”.

The next thing he knew, John was on the floor surrounded by paramedics. He tried to explain that he was “just feeling a bit tired”, but John had actually suffered a cardiac arrest.

“My heart stopped. I was dead on the floor, my wife was sitting there holding my hand as it turned blue and went cold,” he told STV News.

John’s life was saved after his daughter, a doctor, performed CPR on him, while an alert sent through the GoodSAM app notified registered defibrillator users in the area.

A volunteer neighbour arrived with the kit within four minutes and restarted John’s heart.

John told his story after First Minister John Swinney announced £2.5m of funding towards at least 1,000 defibrillators to be installed across the country over the next three years.

There will be a particular focus on deprived areas of Scotland, where ambulance wait times can be longest. The funding will also support services and apps that enable a quicker response to cardiac arrests.

Swinney said: “We will work towards ensuring there is a defibrillator within reach of every incident, using evidence to identify the best locations and modes of delivery.

“We are determined to build a Scotland where everyone, regardless of where they live, has the best possible chance of surviving a cardiac arrest and can live healthier, longer lives.”

Since Save a Life for Scotland launched in 2015, more than a million Scots have been trained in CPR, contributing to improved survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

But still just one in ten will live to tell the tale like John – a statistic the First Minister says we “can and must improve on”.

David McColgan, head of the British Heart Foundation Scotland, welcomed the announcement, saying: “It’s a recognition that we’ve come a long way to creating a country that is ready to save a life when cardiac arrest occurs, while at the same time acknowledging a role for government to support those communities who need it the most.”

John celebrated his 58th birthday shortly after his cardiac arrest and has now almost fully recovered. He remains grateful to the GoodSAM responder and his daughter for administering CPR.

“A special thank you to Fiona for breaking my ribs, that was majorly appreciated,” he joked.