'The gift of Blarney': US tourist thanks rescuers as he recalls day his heart stopped at castle

David Motte, from North Carolina, was saved thanks to a combination of advanced first-aid training, expertise, a swift response by the emergency services, and a remarkable set of coincidences, writes Eoin English

Author David Motte who returned to Cork on December 4 to launch his book 'The Gift of Blarney which recounts his dramatic rescue at Blarney Castle after he suffered a heart attack. Picture: David Creedon

Legend has it that it bestows the gift of the gab but in David Motte’s case, a visit to Blarney Castle produced a life-saving miracle.

Five years on from his brush with death near the top of the world-famous tourist attraction, the grateful American returned to Cork in December where, during an emotionally-charged event in City Hall, he met the behind-the-scenes and frontline emergency service staff and bystanders who formed a chain of survival and saved his life.