A local pub in the heart of Polwarth has rallied together to raise over £2,000 in order to pay for the installation of a defibrillator after the co-owner passed away from a heart attack.
Alan Laidlaw, who was 58 at the time of his passing, opened the Polwarth Tavern with close friend Ben Prowse in 2006.
But tragically the husband and dad of two died after suffering from a heart attack at home during the second lockdown in October 2020.
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As a result of his death, Ben and the entire Polwarth Tavern community came together to host a raffle, which was supported by local businesses, in order to cover the costs of installing a defibrillator outside the boozer.
Ben said: “Alan was a larger-than-life man. He was a wee guy with a big voice who was very loyal and good at bringing everyone together.
“He was our quiz master and if the pub was full he could get the attention of everyone in it.
“He was loud and well-loved, the perfect good guy for a local pub. If you needed someone to speak to or help you then he was your man.
“Like myself, he treated the pub as an extended version of our family.
“In that way, it is fitting that the whole pub came together to buy the defibrillator.
“It has been put up to remember him and the hope is that it could help somebody else, which is what a local pub should be about.
“We all look out for each other here.
“We have a really good gang and are set in a close-knit residential community. A lot of local businesses donated prizes for our raffle and everyone that entered came away with a prize.
“It went up on Friday and we decided to put it on the outside of the pub so that anyone in the local area that needs it can rely on it.
“We are hoping to host a few training sessions in the near future for anyone that wants to learn how to use it.
“After all, the more of us that are trained up, then the better we can help in the event of an emergency.”
Ben says that anyone wanting to use the defibrillator during an emergency simply has to phone up 999 to get an access code to the case.
He adds that the Polwarth Tavern will be looking to host training sessions for local residents and their community but will make dates available when they iron out the finer details.
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