Inverness heart attack hero honoured after Highland shinty match near Strathpeffer ended in life and death battle to save referee
A lifesaver has been honoured after a shinty match on a pitch at Castle Leod near Strathpeffer turned into a life and death drama in March this year.
Connor Cormack leapt into action after the referee collapsed on the pitch with a heart attack 20 minutes into the game.
An ambulance was called but before it arrived the man’s heart had stopped completely and the fight to save him began on the pitch. One of the players, Mr Cormack of Inverness, who had already placed the referee in the recovery position used a defibrillator kept in the club house and succeeded in re-starting the referee’s heart.
However, it stopped again and he went through the whole process a second time and again managed to re-start it. The referee was then taken to hospital where, after surgery he went on to survive.
Now Mr Cormack has been awarded one of the UK’s top life-saving honours for bringing the man back from the dead. He is to receive a Royal Humane Society Resuscitation Certificate and has also won the personal praise of Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Society.
“In a situation like this time is of the essence and it’s essential that efforts are made to re-start the person’s heart as quickly as possible,” said Mr Chapman. “Mr Cormack saw the referee collapse, went to help him, realised how serious the situation was and then, with the help of the defibrillator re-started his heart not once but twice.
“Thankfully he was at the scene, knew what to do, kept calm and as a result saved the referee’s life. He richly deserves the awards he is to receive.”
The roots of the Royal Humane Society stretch back nearly 250 years. Other than awards made by the Crown it is the premier national body for honouring bravery in the saving of human life.
It was founded in 1774 by two of the day's eminent medical men, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan. Their primary motive was to promote techniques of resuscitation.
However, as it emerged that numerous people were prepared to put their own lives at risk to save others, the awards scheme evolved, and today a variety of awards are made depending on the bravery involved.
The Society also awards non health care professionals who perform a successful resuscitation. Since it was set up the Society has considered over 90,000 cases and made over 220,000 awards. The Society is a registered charity which receives no public funding and is dependent on voluntary donations.
