CPR Saves Man's Life On Golf Course

After a cardiac arrest, CPR saved a man's life on a golf course in Bournemouth recently.

CPR Saves Man's Life On Golf Course

Barry Duxbury, 78, had just cracked a drive straight down the middle at Parley Golf Centre in Bournemouth until a cardiac arrest caused him to collapse.

David Price, 69, was on the tee behind getting ready to hit his drive before rushing up to help Barry.

According to David; "It was extraordinarily lucky. We walked up to the first tee and two guys were on the first tee and they said ‘we’re a bit slow, do go on ahead and play ahead of us’, and we said, ‘no don’t worry, we’re not in a rush, it’s a lovely day’.

David then looked up and saw Barry face down on the ground and along with his playing partner Kelvin, and Barry's playing partner Colin, administered CPR. David had a few weeks earlier completed a British Heart Foundation Heartstart course.

After 15 minutes, the ambulance arrived and stabilised Barry, which was incredibly fortunate. The actions of David saved his life.

David went on to say; "There are two lucky things. I was just on the [BHF CPR Heartstart] course two weeks before, because without the course, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to act. Also if you’re not putting this stuff into practice you’re not remembering it.

And B) if we had played in front of him we wouldn’t have seen him go down. It just worked out for him and he’s a lovely bloke."

Ever since the incident Barry has since moderated his life style. Barry said; "I’ve always been a bit of a tear about but because of what’s happened I’ve slowed down a bit, and because of slowing down you can’t rush things. You’ve just got to realise you can’t do what you used to do. I turned 78 last week."

He said he is now swinging the club better, playing brilliant golf, and he has since donated a defibrillator to the club.

'Restart A Heart Day' - October 16th 2018

The actions of David shows just how important CPR is and according to a new study put together by the British Heart Foundation., 29% of people would not administer CPR if they saw someone suffer a cardiac arrest.

According to the study, lack of knowledge surrounding CPR and its techniques push many not to act which could mean lives are at risk. As a result of this, the British Heart Foundation are continuing a campaign called 'Restart A Heart Day' which is today and looks to teach 200,000 people about CPR and how to administer it.

The campaign is organised jointly by the BHF, the Resuscitation Council (UK), St John Ambulance, the British Red Cross, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and ambulance trusts and fire and rescue services across the country.

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“You may not feel confident performing CPR if you haven’t been trained or you don’t remember your training; but without your early action the chances someone will survive a cardiac arrest are virtually zero. The BHF is striving to improve survival rates by creating a Nation of Lifesavers through our CPR training programmes. By raising awareness on Restart a Heart Day, we hope more people will see that CPR really can be the difference between life and death and that doing something is always better than doing nothing.”

Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer, Jim Wallace said:

“Restart a Heart Day is a fantastic initiative and it’s great to see our crews heading into schools teaching this life-saving skill across Greater Manchester. If there is one thing children should learn at school – it’s how to respond in an emergency situation and have the confidence and ability to perform CPR. You never know when you are going to need to perform this life-saving skill, but it really can be the difference between life and death."

The British Heart Foundation aims to fund around £100 million of research a year to help those living with heart and circulatory disease. To find out more about you can support Restart a Heart Day and learn CPR visit www.bhf.org.uk/restart2018

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