A Dundee nurse was the heroine of the hour when she rushed to save the life of a mystery golfer who choked on his Sunday dinner.
The man had been enjoying a meal at Ballumbie Castle Golf Club with a large group of friends when a piece of food became lodged in his throat.
Luckily, quick-thinking Patricia Brown, who works at Stobswell Medical Practice, was also in the restaurant having a meal with family who had travelled from Edinburgh for the day.
As the panic-stricken party looked on in horror, Mrs Brown had to work against the clock to clear the man’s airways while his heart stopped and he turned blue through lack of oxygen.
Playing down her heroic role in saving the life of the man, whose identity remains unknown, she admitted there was a moment when she thought he would not make it.
She said, “The whole thing was pretty scary and for a minute or two it was looking really quite serious.
“I had to act quickly because he was going blue. When I got to him, he wasn’t breathing and his heart had stopped.
“I tried to carry out the Heimlich manoeuvre but it didn’t work. I knew then I had to clear his airways so I got someone else who was standing by to do CPR as I did it.Mouth-to-mouth”He said he’d never done CPR before but he made a good job of it and we got the man’s heart going again.
“I then had to give him mouth-to-mouth and try and get some oxygen back into him.”
An ambulance was called but by the time paramedics arrived the casualty had begun to recover thanks to the swift actions of Mrs Brown. He was taken to Ninewells Hospital as a precaution.
She continued, “When the ambulance got there he was breathing again and had pinked up a good bit, which was a relief.”
Despite being none the wiser as to the identity of the casualty, there was a nice surprise in store for Mrs Brown and her family when they returned to their meal.
She said, “We discovered that all of the man’s friends had had a whip round to pay for our dinner, which was really nice of them.
“I still don’t know who he was. I heard he might have been from Perth but I’m not sure.
“It would be nice to know how he is — I hope he’s doing okay.”