A MUSSELBURGH hairdresser has raised cash to provide a potentially lifesaving device outside her shop, after paramedics using the equipment saved her dad’s life.

Shelley Anne Mackie, 42, who owns Hair Gossip at 38 Bridge Street, was horrified to see her dad James, 65, collapse in front of her and her mum Margaret a year ago after he suffered a cardiac arrest at his Windsor Park home.

She said: “Dad was feeling unwell. He was feeling sick and shaky, and had excruciating pain down his arm and chest.

“We phoned the ambulance and, within five minutes, the medics were with us.

“They were only in the house for two minutes when my dad 'died' in front of me and my mum.

“The medics started working on him with CPR and 10 minutes later a second ambulance crew arrived with the defibrillator.

“My dad was away for 48 minutes and had eight shocks to his heart.”

She praised the actions of ambulance personnel, adding: “The medics never gave up on my dad.”

Mr Mackie, a grandfather-of-four, was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where he had surgery to fit two stents as he had a blockage in arteries to his heart.

Shelley Anne said: “Dad was put on a ventilator for five days and we were told that he would maybe be brain dead as he was starved of oxygen for 48 minutes.

“When they turned off the ventilator my dad started responding.

“He was in intensive care for three weeks and has been making a slow recovery.”

A year on, she is giving something back, with a public access defribrillator now outside her shop.

She said: “I mentioned to my mum that I wanted to thank the ambulance service for saving my dad’s life.”

Shelley Anne, who has a younger sister Lisa, 38, decided to hold a charity night at the Wiremill Social Club to raise funds to buy a defibrillator.

She said: “Everyone was so kind donating raffle prizes, all the local businesses putting up prizes for auction and those who gave donations. We raised more than £2,000.”

The defibrillator, which gives an electric shock to someone suffering a cardiac arrest, was recently installed outside Hair Gossip for use by the community in the event of a medical emergency, and Shelley Anne is set to register it with the Scottish Ambulance Service.

She added: “Hopefully we can save more lives and a big thanks to everyone who made this happen.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service is appealing to communities to register potentially life-saving public access defibrillators on its dedicated website through its Registration to Resuscitation campaign.

Murray McEwan, the service’s national community resilience manager, said: “Public access defibrillators can be found all over Scotland and are vital pieces of equipment in the crucial early minutes following a cardiac arrest before an ambulance arrives.

“When someone experiences a cardiac arrest they are unconscious and not breathing, or not breathing normally, and their life is in immediate danger, which is why these defibrillators are so important.

“Currently, anyone can acquire a defibrillator and they are often based in community centres, sports facilities and other public places.

“While there is no legal obligation to register defibrillators, the Scottish Ambulance Service now has a dedicated registration website and we are appealing to local communities to ensure we know where these are, so when someone calls 999 we will know where the nearest defibrillator is if it is required.

“Our call handlers may then be able to direct members of the public to a defibrillator if two or more people are present when somebody experiences a cardiac arrest and talk them through action.

“This is a campaign which will help save more lives and everyone can really get behind. We need the custodians who look after these defibrillators to register them on our website. Everyone else can help by asking whenever they see a defibrillator if it has been registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service.

“We are also working to register as many of these defibrillators as possible.”

The campaign is supported by the British Heart Foundation Scotland.

The charity’s director, James Cant, said: “Suffering a cardiac arrest outside of hospital is our most common life-threatening medical emergency but only around one in 20 people survive in Scotland. Fewer lives would be needlessly lost if more people felt confident using CPR skills and more defibrillators were available in public places.

“If one of my loved ones suffered a cardiac arrest I’d want to know where the nearest defibrillator was and that it was on its way. By registering these devices we can all ensure we’re playing a part in potentially saving a life by using the chain of survival: calling 999, starting chest compressions and using a defibrillator.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service public access defibrillator registration website address is pad.scottishambulance.com

Two of Musselburgh’s public access defibrillators have already been registered on the database: Sharkey’s, Unit 7, Newhailes Industrial Estate; and Wilson’s of Musselburgh, 119 High Street, provided by the Rotary Club of Musselburgh.

In the Musselburgh area there are other defibrillators in the following East Lothian Council-managed properties: Musselburgh Grammar School, Musselburgh East Community Learning Centre and at Kinwegar recycling centre, Wallyford.

Others which have been provided by other local organisations include one at the Hollies Day Centre.