A WEST Fife man who was given a clot-busting drug after suffering a massive heart attack has thanked the ambulance crew who helped save his life.

George Tait, from Oakley, was on his way home from a friend’s funeral when he was taken ill with severe chest pains.

Mr Tait (55) was driven to the local doctor’s surgery where he was given pain-killers and an ambulance was called.

As paramedic Craig Taitand ambulance technician Dave Cunningham arrived his condition suddenly worsened and he suffered a heart attack.

Craig and Dave sprang into action and shocked Mr Tait’s heart back into life using their defibrillator. They then planned to give him the thrombolytic drug Tenectaplase.

However, before they could administer it Mr Tait’s heart stopped again.

He was revived a second time and given the drug, now being carried by ambulance crews across Fife.

Within minutes the pain had subsided and his heartbeat had returned to near normal levels.

He was taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy and later transferred to a specialist coronary care unit in Edinburgh.

After just a week in hospital, Mr Tait felt fit enough to discharge himself and returned home.

Speaking at the weekend, he revealed he remembered little of the incident.

“I was on my way home from my friend’s funeral,” he said. “The boy I was with dropped me off at the end of the road.

“I felt a pain in my chest and just couldn’t do anything, so I was taken up to the doctor’s surgery and given a pain killer.”

The ambulance arrived, but the next thing Mr Tait can remember was coming round in hospital.

“I never really thought anything about it,” he said. “When that roulette wheel stops going round and the ball lands on your number there’s nothing anybody can do.

“I appreciate the second chance and I’m glad they did what they did, though!”

Mr Tait was the first person in Fife to be saved by the clot-busting drug, which has been around for some time.

Tenectaplase is now being used in a different way, thanks to a project put together by NHS Fife, the coronary care team at the Victoria Hospital and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Until recently, heart attack victims had to be taken to hospital as quickly as possible for treatment by specialists.

Now the region’s paramedics have been trained how to use the drug, which can help clear blocked arteries by dissolving clots.

Early intervention, as Mr Tait’s remarkable recovery demonstrates, greatly increases a patient’s chance of making as full a recovery as possible.

Dave said there was no doubt he was lucky to be alive. “He was fortunate the drug was available, otherwise I think his chances would have been pretty slim,” he said.

“We would have struggled to get him to hospital in time if we didn’t have the drug, to be honest.

“In the old days it was all about damage limitation and then getting the patient to hospital as quickly as possible. Now we can treat them ourselves.”

Ambulance crews can also receive advice from specialists at the coronary care unit at the Victoria Hospital.

The key to the drug’s success is its ability to prevent serious damage to the heart, which can be permanently damaged unless the blood supply can be quickly re-established.