Defibrillator campaign backed by marathon man whose heart stopped

Peter O’Hare was not meant to be watching the Belfast marathon.

He actually should have been taking part, but he had an injury, and instinct forced him to pull out on the morning of the race.

The 44-year-old, who works for the medical devices company Stryker and oversees their defibrillators, was driving through Finaghy when he saw someone had collapsed.

He said his training immediately kicked in.

“I went over to see if I could help,” he said.

“I shouted for someone to start CPR, and I raced to get the defibrillator that I keep in the car.

“He was completely passed out; his eyes were rolling in his head, and he was clearly not breathing – essentially when you are in cardiac arrest, you are dead.”