'Eye-opener': Hero cop on mission to get new defibrillator in Paisley

PC Kyle Reid, who helped save Colin Jackson’s life following a cardiac arrest in April, with his colleague PC Jenner, is set to play four rounds of golf in one day on July 13 to raise cash for a new de-fib and to raise awareness about them.

We previously reported that Colin, 64, from Houston, fell seriously ill when he went out to collect his wife from work in Linwood.

However, luckily, he was saved by the two hero officers – who performed urgent medical treatment on him by using a de-fib to bring him back to life.

Colin and the two cops after the incident (Image: Supplied)

Following the incident that left him in “shock”, the 31-year-old cop, who works across Renfrewshire, is now hoping he can raise more awareness about the life-saving equipment.

PC Reid told The Gazette: “After the incident, I just felt like I had to do something.

“So, I got in contact with Lucky2BHere, which is a defibrillator charity that as well as supplying de-fibs around the country, also does seminars and training courses on them.

“I contacted them, and I gave them the idea of fundraising to buy and upkeep a new de-fib, so, they sent me over the price list of how much it would cost to buy, install, and upkeep one for up to five to ten years.

“They said it would cost £2,000, so, I decided that it was my target to raise that money.”

Colin previously spoke out about the incident (Image: Newsquest)

Kyle said that while they are still to finalise where the new piece of life-saving equipment will go, he says it will possibly be placed in Foxbar, Paisley.

The 31-year-old also said the reason behind the fundraiser is due to the incident being a real “eye-opener” for him.

He said: “I recently became a dad, and I don’t know if that changed how I looked at what happened.

“It was definitely an eye-opener that it could happen to anyone, anywhere.

“Colin is a fit and healthy guy and for it just to happen like that out of nowhere is crazy.”

PC Reid revealed he has kept in touch with Colin as they have “shared interests".

He added: “I think he’s going to come down and support me on the day at the golf club. We’ve stayed in touch to a certain extent and he’s still choking to buy me a pint one day.”

The Police Scotland officer added that it was lucky that his and his colleague’s training just “kicked in” on the day.

Kyle said: “On the night it happened, it was a bit overwhelming.

“I’ve been working for the police for eight years and it’s the first time I’ve probably been rocked by anything to a point where I was probably in shock.

“Once I was able to get home and speak to my wife and see my wee boy, I was proud straight away. It’s a story I can tell forever and not many people can say they have saved somebody.”

Lucky2BHere is a charity that aims to place defibrillators and deliver emergency life support training across communities in Scotland.

The cops were luckily on hand to help Colin (Image: Newsquest)

Kyle continued to say: “Obviously I’ve been trained to work de-fibs but a lot of people I’ve spoken to about the incident said they would have frozen and wouldn’t have known how to use a de-fib – although it tells you when you’re using them how to, they still wouldn’t have been able to get one or it wouldn’t have been their first thought when it came to that incident.

“It’s maybe our first thought because we’ve trained in it - so, I’m just trying to raise as much awareness as I can.”

You can check out Kyle's fundraiser HERE.