Two police officers have attended an awards ceremony after saving the life of an elderly man who suffered three heart attacks at a bus stop.
PC Jennifer MacGregor and PC Grant Lennox were nominated for an award at the ceremony which was held at The Glasgow City Hotel on Friday 13 May.
The pair were among 10 nominees in the ‘Emergency Hero’ section, before making the cut as top three finalists.
Speaking after the event, which was organised as part of the Daily Record ‘Our Heroes’ awards, PC MacGregor said: “It’s unusual to get this sort of recognition so we’re both delighted. We feel we were just doing our job and luckily our training kicked in and we were able to save this man’s life.
“It was quite surreal when it happened – we were passing in our patrol car and saw someone lying on the pavement with a few people standing around, trying to help.
“Obviously we wanted to find out what was going on, and when we went over it was clear the man was in cardiac arrest.”
PC MacGregor performed CPR for five minutes until the ambulance arrived, and then for a further five minutes while paramedics did their own medical work.
Meanwhile, her colleague PC Lennox carried out extensive enquiries to establish the man’s identity and contact next of kin.
“We both managed to stay calm even though it was an extremely serious situation,” said PC Lennox.
“We tried not to think about the fact this man might die, so we just went into autopilot.
“It could’ve easily gone wrong but thankfully, it didn’t.”
The 75-year-old spent almost a month in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where PC MacGregor visited him.
After the incident, which happened on Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, in November last year, the man emailed Police Scotland thanking the officers for their actions, and asked for them to be recognised.
Inspector Kevin Rafferty, of Craigmillar Police Station, said: “I’m proud of the two officers as they dealt with what was a difficult situation really well.
“I’ve been told that if it wasn’t for their actions, this elderly gentleman would not have survived.
“It’s not very often that police officers get recognised for the good work they do, so it’s very much appreciated when it does happen.
“Despite weeks of training, you never know how people will react when faced with a situation like this – we’re all human regardless of whether you’re a police officer or not.
“There’s an emotional side to these incidents as well, so I’m pleased with how PC MacGregor and PC Lennox handled it.
“I’m sure they’ll enjoy their celebrity status in the office, but they certainly won’t be getting any days off for it.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
