Pars physio hailed a hero

"If he hadn't done what he had done then there would have been nothing left to work on."

There is one Peterhead fan who was more happy than any other to welcome Dunfermline Athletic back to the Balmoor Stadium on Saturday.

Val Pearson (67) fell to the ground with chest pains in the car park at the stadium after arriving to cheer on his team against Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday 22nd August. His life was saved when the club’s general manager, Nat Porter, and the Pars physiotherapist Kenny Murray rushed to his aid with the ground’s defibrillator. On Saturday Val and his wife Irene were able to thank Kenny Murray in person for his skills which certainly were life saving.

Val Pearson lives within walking distance of Balmoor Stadium. He told www.dafc.co.uk as he and his brother in law Sandy were walking towards the park. "I stopped and stood it was the last thing I remember."

Sandy took up the story:-

"Someone ran and got the defibrillator from the club. Kenny got it going, he shocked him a couple of times before the paramedics arrived. We were very lucky that Kenny was here."

Val realises that for once he was in the right place at the right time. He continued:-

"The ambulance crew that took me into Aberdeen Royal Infirmary came in to see me the next day in the critical care ward and they said that I should thank the physio who looked after you - if he hadn't done what he had done then there would have been nothing left to work on."

Val was brought up in Burntisland but moved up to Peterhead through work. He worked for 25-years as a chemist at Total Oil Machines and, latterly, Enviroco. His family hailed from Edinburgh and as a youngster he had been encouraged to support Hearts. His school mates had unsuccessfully tried to make him support Raith Rovers but from now on he is sure which Fife club he will be supporting:-

"I have always had a soft spot for Dunfermline but I have a permanent supporter now."

Mr Pearson’s wife, Irene said:

“Certainly, the physio is a hero in our eyes. These people are trained to do this I suppose – it’s part of their job – but he’ll always be a hero to us. It was such a shock to us all and we’re so grateful for the aid he received at the football ground, in the ambulance and at the hospital. It was all clockwork – he couldn’t have received better attention from the emergency services."

Steven Bruce, Chairman of the Peterhead JogScotland (above) pointed out that fund raising was ongoing to increase the supply of defibrillators in Peterhead:-

"We knew in the town that there was a need for more defibrillators so on the back of what has happened here it has motivated us even more. We had the Bravehearts Fun Run a couple of months ago in aid of Chest Heart Stroke and to raise money for this.

"So far we have raised four to five thousand pounds. We are looking for about two thousand of that to go to defibrillators. There will be two in the town now, one east side and one west side of the town.

"We are going to make them public access defibrillators. We are working with a Skye based charity called 'Lucky to be here' who are putting 1500 defibrillators around Scotland and we will be working with them to do the training required as well. It is a great community effort."

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