A physiotherapist was hailed a hero last night after he saved a football fan’s life at a game.
Peterhead fan Val Pearson had gone to cheer on his side against Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday, but collapsed in the car park at about 2pm.
Nat Porter, Peterhead Football Club’s general manager, saw Mr Pearson collapse and raced to get the defibrillator from inside Balmoor Terrace – bumping into Dunfermline’s physiotherapist Kenny Murray, who “burst into action”.
By the time the pair got back to Mr Pearson, he was falling in and out of consciousness and they knew they had to act fast.
Mr Porter said: “He ran back with me, grabbed the defib off me and burst into action.
“We feared the worst, but he was alive when he went into the ambulance and was ‘blue lamped’ all the way into Aberdeen. In the evening we heard he was sitting up in his bed and breathing on his own.
“If it had happened 50 yards away, we might not have had time to get the defib to him. We now just hope he makes a full recovery to see the Blue Toon in action for the rest of the season – we would be delighted to welcome him back.
“The real hero – the great hero through the whole thing – was the Dunfermline physio.”
Mr Murray, who worked at Celtic Football Club before moving to Dunfermline, said he was running on “auto-pilot” when he got to the scene.
The physio, who qualified seven years ago, added: “I’ve never had any real-life scenarios that could be classed as life-threatening in my career, all of the training is done as realistically as possible but I’ve never had to deal with something to this degree before.
“You just go onto auto-pilot and everything comes to you and you do it. There’s no grey areas. You’re in a situation where people could be dying and that if you don’t perform these techniques that you’re taught, then their life is in your hands.”
He was also praised by his employers, who described him as a “credit” to both the club and himself.
“Kenny acted quickly and calmly to save a Peterhead fan’s life, and we are delighted to hear that the supporter is now in a stable condition in hospital,” a spokesman said.
“Kenny is a credit to himself, and to our club.”
The Football Partnership, which has donated defibrillators to football clubs throughout the country, has meanwhile stressed the importance of the devices at all grounds.
A spokesman said that it had now provided grant funding to clubs in the Highland League, Lowland League, East League and South League to purchase machines.
“If it’s not on-hand, then it’s not there to save someone’s life,” he said.
“It’s something we care about and it’s why we’ve supported these league bodies over the last three years.”