A team of police officers have been honoured for saving a 'dead' cyclist’s life.
George McClure died for 13 minutes at the roadside after the horror crash in September 2021.
The terrifying incident happened on the A94 near Forfar and it was only a stroke of luck that saved George, 56.
Members of the Tayside Police Mountain Rescue Team just happened to be passing the accident scene at the time.
They were first to react and battled to resuscitate George at the roadside for nearly a quarter of an hour.
A trauma team then took over and fought to stabilise him for a further one and a half hours.
George survived, but was left in an induced coma for more than a month.
He suffered a catalogue of appalling injuries included a brain bleed, broken neck and broken collarbone.
He also broke every bone in his face from his forehead down to his top lip.
Speaking to the local Courier newspaper at the time, George said: “I was unlucky with the accident – but I couldn’t have been luckier with the people who stopped to help.
“They saved my life.”
His wife, Morag, told the paper it was thought her husband suffered an aneurysm before hitting a roadside pole.
She said: “It was a Sunday afternoon and I was working, so George had cycled down from Kirrie.
“He set off for home and I left just behind him in the car because I had finished my shift.”
On the way to work, Morag found her critically injured husband lying on the ground at the A90 underpass.
She explained: “I couldn’t even dial 999 for fear, and ended up Facetiming my daughter, Ashley instead.
“The next vehicle was the police mountain rescue team who had been on training.
“They had a defibrillator in their Land Rover and used it on George.
“He died for 13 minutes.”
“He was too far gone for an air ambulance. The trauma team spent an hour and a half working on him at the roadside.”
And she added: “George also broke every bone in his face from his forehead to his top lip – only his lower jaw escaped."
“He was unrecognisable.
“In HDU there were two male patients and his injuries were so bad my other daughter, Helen, didn’t know which one he was.”
George went on to make good progress in his recovery.
His family has now raised the funds for the lifesaving defib beside the A94 junction on the Dundee to Aberdeen dual carriageway.
And the police officers who saved him were this week honoured with Royal Humane Society Certificates.
The Tayside officers were presented their awards by Chief Superintendent Phil Davison and Mr McClure.
They were PC Rory Drumm , PC Justin Coff , PC Gavin Howard and PC Paul Morgan.
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