A retired Sanquhar firefighter helped to save a Dutch tourist’s life when he took ill in the Spanish city of Seville.
Rangers fan Ian Johnson leapt into action and performed CPR when an elderly man became unwell on a sightseeing bus the day after the Europa League final.
The 56-year-old and his friend Craig Moore, a serving firefighter, were on a tour of the city when the incident happened.
Ian told the Standard: “I could see this guy was struggling a wee bit and his wife was shouting for a medic.
“There was a bit of a language barrier but I could understand what was going on.
“He had a camera around him and a hat on and I got them off and took control of the situation.
“I retired from the fire service in March so I’ve been trained in CPR.
“The bus was still moving at this point but Craig got it stopped.
“I thought the guy was going to go because he was foaming at the mouth.”
Ian added: “I lifted his arm and it was flapping down. He was unresponsive. I gave him a couple of compressions and he sparked into life.
“I don’t think it was a heart attack I think he had something like low blood pressure.
“We kept him down and an ambulance took him away at the next stop. I’m hoping he’s okay and got home. His wife kept cuddling me as they got off the bus.”
Ian, who was a watch commander in Sanquhar for 10 years and spent 23 with the fire service, believes everyone should be trained in the life-saving technique.
He said: “I was at an incident locally where someone passed away and ever since then I’ve taken a greater interest in CPR. I’ve been in to schools too. We’ve got defibs through Upper Nithsdale but it’s not just a case of running to get one. While you’re getting that defib someone has to be doing CPR.
“Your chances of survival reduce 10 per cent every minute once the oxygen stops getting to the brain. It’s what I’ve been trained to do.”
The adventures weren’t over for Ian and Craig as they made their long journey home.
They were delayed at Geneva after a large fire caused smoke to billow across the airport.
Ian, who is also an area supervisor with the council, said: “We couldn’t believe it we were grounded for two hours because of a huge fire.
“That was my first week of semi-retirement – I’ll never forget it!”
