A Fife football club physio has been reunited with the fan whose life he saved before a match in August.
Peterhead supporter Val Pearson was delighted to see Dunfermline Athletic back at the Balmoor Stadium on Saturday after collapsing before the Pars’ previous visit there on August 22.
The 67-year-old, who was brought up in Burntisland, fell to the ground with chest pains in the car park as he walked to the game with his brother-in-law, Sandy.
It is thought only the quick thinking of Dunfermline general manager Nat Porter and physiotherapist Kenny Murray ensured he survived.
Mr Murray performed CPR and used the defibrillator at Balmoor Stadium to resuscitate Mr Pearson before he was taken for further hospital treatment.
“If you’re in a situation where it’s life or death, what do you do?” the physio said.
“Stand and do nothing or use the skills and knowledge you’ve got to try and help? For me there was no other option.”
The weekend’s trip north for the Pars gave Mr Pearson and his wife Irene the perfect chance to say thank you.
“The ambulance crew that took me into Aberdeen Royal Infirmary came in to see me the next day in the critical care ward and they said that I should thank the physio who looked after me,” he said.
“If he hadn’t done what he had done then there would have been nothing left to work on.”
Ironically, Mr Pearson was brought up in Burntisland and revealed that his school mates tried unsuccessfully to make him support the Pars’ Fife rivals Raith Rovers.
He admits his long-held “soft spot” for Dunfermline Athletic has strengthened somewhat, although the fact his family hailed from Edinburgh meant he was encouraged to support Hearts from an early age.
“These people are trained to do this I suppose it’s part of their job but he’ll always be a hero to us,” added Mr Pearson’s wife, Irene.
“It was such a shock to us all and we’re so grateful for the aid he received at the football ground, in the ambulance and at the hospital.”
“It was all clockwork he couldn’t have received better attention from the emergency services.”
Officials at Dunfermline Athletic have described Mr Murray as a “credit to himself and to our club”.
And it has also emerged that the incident has raised the profile of the need for defibrillators in the Peterhead community, with local campaigners raising around £5,000 towards providing more.
Steven Bruce, chairman of Peterhead JogScotland, said: “We knew in the town that there was a need for more defibrillators so on the back of what has happened here it has motivated us even more.”