The parents of a Moray teenager who was killed while riding his bike want an urgent decision over whether a trial of life-saving equipment is made permanent.
For six months, defibrillators bearing the name of Keiran McKandie have been carried in police cars across the north-east following fundraising by the family.
Yesterday the trial period came to an end with police expected to review the results before coming to a decision over whether to keep them permanently.
Keiran’s parents, Gordon and Sandra, will meet senior officers later this month to review how the equipment is used.
And Mrs McKandie, who lives in Miltonduff, is eager to ensure her son’s legacy can continue to save lives.
She said: “We want to arrange the meeting as soon as possible because we don’t want to be sitting around with nothing happening.
“Obviously we don’t want to see them removed and we hope they will continue to be there. We’re just waiting for the police at the moment.
“The Scottish Government has been really interested in the trial too so we’ll be pushing them too on how it goes forward.”
As part of the trial, ten defibrillators, each worth £1,000, were installed in police cars in Elgin, Inverurie, Mintlaw, Stonehaven and Aberdeen.
One of the devices is known to have been used to save a life – successfully resuscitating a 52-year-old man who had pulled into a layby north of Peterhead in April.
Keiran was killed in March last year when he was knocked off his bike on the B9010 Dallas to Kellas road near Craigend.
Mrs McKandie is eager to continue to roll out her son’s legacy even further by placing more defibrillators in strategic locations.
She said: “Communities are raising money to put them in the local area. ‘Keiran’s Legacy’ is a registered charity now so we’ve had people get in touch because we can get them at a reduced rate.”
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead hopes the trial could be the beginning of an ongoing partnership between the McKandie family and police.
He said: “Everyone is hugely impressed by the efforts of Mr and Mrs McKandie to ensure part of Keiran’s legacy helps save the lives of others.
“It’s an immense achievement to get this far with defibrillators being carried in police vehicles. I look forward to the outcome from the trial.”
Yesterday police said the results of the trial were still being collated.
