Off-duty firefighter saves man’s life on golf course
Cork-based lead fireman Jerry Crean was off duty and enjoying a round of golf at Kinsale Golf Club’s Farrangalway course in Co Cork on Sunday when the man collapsed on the fourth green.
Jerry, a married father-of- two from Frankfield, and who has been a firefighter for 26 years, rushed to the scene and found the casualty had no pulse.
He performed CPR and used one of the club’s two defibrillators to shock the man back to life.
“He had no pulse when I arrived on the scene and he was unresponsive,” said Jerry last night.
“There is no doubt whatsoever that he would have died without the defibrillator. If it wasn’t for this, he was gone.”
Jerry was on the fifth fairway when he heard cries for help.
“I heard of a lot of shouting and word was going out around the course that someone was in trouble,” he said.
He sprinted about 1,000 yards to reach the dying man and found him lying on the fourth green with his shocked playing partners trying to revive him.
“I couldn’t find a pulse. He was unresponsive and for all intents and purposes he was dead,” said Jerry.
Using his first aid responder training, Jerry started CPR as other players phoned the clubhouse asking someone to bring one of the club’s two defibrillators to the scene.
Jerry continued working on the casualty until the machine arrived about two minutes later.
He then ripped open the man’s shirt, attached the pads to his chest and shocked his heart three times.
“He was gone but the defibrillator kick-started his heart. I got him breathing, and got a pulse, but he was still unresponsive,” said Jerry.
“I put him in to recovery position, and when a South Doc doctor arrived about 10 minutes later, he was stable.”
An ambulance arrived a few minutes later and rushed the casualty to Cork University Hospital.
He was in a critical but stable condition on Sunday night but the man’s best friend, Brendan O’Neill, phoned Jerry yesterday to say he had been taken off a ventilator and was due to come out of the intensive care unit soon.
Jerry admitted the incident had taken a lot out of him but said he was delighted the man was making a good recovery.
The man’s family hope to thank Jerry personally soon.
The club bought two defibrillators two years ago — one for its Farrangalway course and the other for its Ringenane course — and trained its staff in their use.
Kinsale Golf Club manager Michael Power said he was delighted with the outcome. Sunday’s incident was the first time either machine was used in an emergency situation, said Mr Power.
“You only realise how important these things are when something happens. We are pleased that we had the machine and that it worked. We are all delighted,” he said.
Jerry’s commanding officer, third officer Edward Buckley said: “Jerry is a very capable individual. His training was paramount here and was key to the success.”
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