Mum thanks ambulance crew after son has cardiac arrest at Old Firm match at Hampden Park

A mother has thanked ambulance crews who helped save her 26-year-old son’s life after he had a cardiac arrest at an Old Firm match.

Joseph Higgins, of Bellshill, was attending the Hampden Park match on April 17 when he went to the concourse area after feeling sick.

His mum Ruth, 55, said: “At this point he suffered a cardiac arrest – initially we were unaware of how serious the situation was, the message I received was he had fainted.

“When at the hospital I don’t think I was able to process the seriousness of the situation. It is only now after he’s home it’s actually sunk in.

“It’s not usual to survive a cardiac arrest. However being in the right place at the right time and beside staff who had the correct training saved his life.”

Joseph spent 47 nights in Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Golden Jubilee Hospital, and was diagnosed with an undiagnosed hereditary heart defect.

Ruth added: “As a mum, I just have no words that would even come close to expressing my gratitude to the staff who looked after Joseph – they literally saved his life.

“He will very much look forward to being back at Hampden when they are playing there. We are just so thankful that your staff were close at hand and managed to get Joseph stable and to the hospital.

“It would be impossible to put into words the depth of gratitude we as a family feel.

“Hopefully Joseph is well on the way to recovery and as a mum I want to express my thanks to the team for the amazing work on match day.”

The experience did not put Joseph off from continuing to follow his team, as he renewed his Celtic season ticket whilst still in hospital.

He added: “It is only now that I realise just how seriously unwell I was. I have very little memory of what actually happened.”

Thomas McCallum, a student paramedic, was one of the team on hand to save Joseph alongside Courtney Elaine Braceline, Newly Qualified Paramedic, of Glasgow East.

He said: “I’m glad to hear the patient is recovering well.

“Surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest requires a team approach and the patient’s good health is a credit to everyone that played a part in his care at the scene.

“CPR makes all the difference and is a simple task anyone can do, I recommend anyone that doesn’t know CPR learns now, you could save a life.”