Cyclist reunited with passers-by who helped save his life after heart attack

A cyclist who survived a heart attack thanks to friends and passers-by using a defibrillator has met two of the people who helped saved his life.

The reunion came as the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Scotland revealed there are now more than 10,000 public defibrillators registered in Scotland.

Jamie Martin, 64, had been cycling with three friends through the village of Gifford, East Lothian, when his heart stopped.

The father of two said he has very little memory of the incident in May 2024 that nearly cost him his life.

“We set off at 9.29am and I was dead by 11am,” he recalled.

“My friends and I had stopped for a coffee and were leaving the village on a notorious hill called Cockles Brae.

“I recall leaving the Lantern Rouge Cafe but can’t remember anything else until 12 hours later.

“I’m never the quickest on the hills and I was at the back, when my friend saw me keeling over.

“My heart had just stopped, and I basically just fell off.”

Mr Martin’s friends began administering CPR, and fetched the village defibrillator from where it was attached to the wall opposite the cafe.

They had administered five shocks when Eleanor Hulme, a retired medic who was responsible for registering the device, happened to be passing by.

“Jamie’s friends had already arranged for the defib to be brought to the scene,” she explained.

“He was in very deep trouble, and he had five shocks from the defib, and several times when no shock was advised he was kept alive only by the chest compressions.

“Given the rural location, the ambulance arrived remarkably quickly within 20 minutes, however, there is no doubt that the defib helped save his life.”

Local resident Gordon Steele, 71, was also passing by and stopped to help with the CPR efforts.

The retired distiller said: “We gave him four or five shocks with the defib, and each time his heart started but then his pulse faded away.

“The last time we did it, he sounded like a diesel engine, and then his breathing started with some strength and his heart began to beat unassisted.

“I was very glad to hear what the outcome was and that he made a full recovery.”

Once he reached hospital, Mr Martin had a stent fitted into a blocked artery.

ECG tests a few months later showed his heart muscle had fully recovered, and he is now back on the bike – including tackling that same hill.

“I have since been back up there and set a personal record,” he said.

“I now have more blood going round my body than I have had for a few years because that artery was just getting steadily blocked.

“But I know how lucky I am to have lived to tell the tale.”

Ms Hulme said the incident had encouraged others to register defibrillators – and there are now six of the devices registered in Gifford alone, a village of just 800 people.

BHF Scotland arranged for Mr Martin to meet with Ms Hulme and Mr Steele in October, and he was able to thank them personally over a coffee in the cafe.

The cyclist also praised the actions of the NHS Ambulance, Medic One service and Royal Infirmary Trauma teams for their swift actions that day.

BHF Scotland said about 3,200 cardiac arrests happen outside hospitals in Scotland every year, and that the survival rate is less than one in 10.

The charity said every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10%, so knowing where the nearest defibrillator is located could be the difference between life and death.

David McColgan, head of BHF Scotland, said: “Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest, so it is wonderful that help was on hand quickly for Jamie.

“His extraordinary story is another reminder about the importance of fast access to public defibs and its great news that over 10,000 are now registered on The Circuit in Scotland.”