Two Asda workers have been praised as life savers after coming to the aid of an elderly man who had a heart attack in their Aberdeen store.
George Gibson’s daughter has thanked Grace Mugglestone and Robyn Gauld for their quick actions when he collapsed at the shop in Dyce.
The 81-year-old, an employee of the store until he retired six years ago, was picking up his groceries when he began to feel unwell and had a sudden heart attack on the shop floor.
Grace and Robyn, who are both first aiders, immediately came to his aid, giving him CPR and ensuring he remained stable until paramedics arrived.
After paying the pair an emotional visit to the store to thank them in person, Mr Gibson’s daughter Caroline Mutch said: “My dad, our family and I can’t thank these two ladies enough. They are a credit to Asda. When he collapsed, they performed CPR on my dad and saved his life. Thankfully he’s now recovering well in hospital.”
“Doctors are unclear whether his heart totally stopped, or if it just went very slow. They are calling it a heart attack as he’s had issues with his heart since March.
“The doctor at the hospital said Grace and Robyn’s quick actions definitely saved him. If he’d been home alone, he probably wouldn’t have survived.”
“I’d really like to thank Grace and Robyn for their quick actions. As a nurse myself, I’ve had to perform CPR many times, so I know they did really well. I had to pop in and thank them in person.”
Widower George, who has nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, previously worked at the store as a delivery driver and then in store until he retired in his mid-70’s.
Grace Mugglestone, section leader at Asda Dyce, said: “I heard a call for a first aider and the team also rang my phone, so I knew something serious had happened. When I heard George had collapsed, I grabbed our defibrillator and ran to his aid. George was conscious but was struggling to breathe, he was finding it difficult to speak to us.”
“With the help of Robyn and the customer who found him, we got George into a position where we could administer first aid to him properly. He wasn’t breathing so I did three compressions to his chest, and he started to gasp. His eyes were open, but he was still unresponsive.”
“We cut his clothes away and put the defibrillator on and it advised us not to shock him at that time which was a relief. We kept it on him just in case. We made him comfortable and talked to him until the paramedics arrived.”
Robyn Gauld, section leader at Asda Dyce, said: “I helped Grace get George on to his back but his whole face was grey and blue.
“When Grace did the compressions and he started to breathe it was such a relief. It was terrifying but we just kept talking to him to keep him going until the ambulance arrived.”
“Every time we came into work we always asked if there was any update, so it was lovely to see his daughter in store.
“It was so emotional.”
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