When Fife man Neil Dingwall read a story in The Courier promoting NHS Tayside’s Heartstart courses, he decided to take one because he thought one day he might be able to save the life of his wife Phyllis if she ever had a heart attack.
But just days after one of his four-year-old grandchildren told him he would be “going to heaven soon because he was a granddad now”, Neil was able to diagnose his own heart attack, thanks to what he had learned on the course.
Now the retired oil and gas fitter is encouraging as many people as possible to attend courses, so they too might save a life even if it’s their own.
Seventy-year-old Neil, of Balmullo, said: “I was damn lucky. I saw the story in The Courier and I thought I’m going to phone that.
“My wife is one hell of a cook and if something happened to her who was going to cook for me?” he joked.
He signed up for the Heartstart course in Dundee and learned how to look out for the symptoms of heart attacks.
But just a few weeks later he found himself in his own life-or-death situation.
Neil said: “I’d had a shower and was walking, ready to go out the front door. I put my hand on the handrail and I felt a dull pain in my chest.
“I did think I was having a heart attack but it didn’t feel like I had expected. I didn’t want to phone 999 until I was sure.
“Then things just got worse I was wretching, being sick and sweating. I went to my bed and asked my wife to phone 999.”
Without the course Neil believes he would have left it too late to seek medical attention and would not be here now.
He added: “I would encourage others to go on the course. It gives you that edge. I was the type of person who never went to the doctor’s, although I do now.
“I’d wait six months if I had a problem. It’s silly, I know, but that’s the way I was brought up. Seeking medical attention is a problem for men in particular.”
Neil is no stranger to sudden death. His son, Lance Corporal Steve Dingwall, 32, of the 1st Battalion Black Watch, collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage 14 years ago after finishing a parade.
Now Neil is encouraging his wife and daughter to sign up for one of the future Heartstart courses and hopes others will follow suit.
Heartstart Discovery is running free two-hour training sessions in emergency life support for members of the public in Dundee and Perth this month.
Being able to perform emergency life support to keep someone alive until professional help arrives gives a casualty the best possible chance of survival.
No medical knowledge is needed to take a course.
The sessions cover:
* Caring for an unconscious person who is breathing
* Caring for an unconscious person who is not breathing and performing CPR
* How to recognise the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and how to deal with it
* Helping someone who is choking
* Helping someone who is bleeding badly.
Places are still available on the following courses:
Dundee Wednesday November 19, 7pm to 9pm. Perth Saturday November 22, 10am to noon.
Training sessions can also be arranged on request for groups, organisations and clubs.
For further details and to register contact Helen Brady on 01382 740400 or at helenjbrady@nhs.net.