Family give thanks to SAS after donating pacemaker to give dog a second chance

The family of a patient who passed away after a cardiac arrest have thanked SAS staff for their efforts to save him and donated his pacemaker to help give a dog a second chance at life.

Emergency responders were called to the Renfrewshire home of Jack Smith, 73, after he suffered a cardiac arrest. Despite prolonged efforts to revive him, the retired farmer sadly died.

His family paid tribute to the SAS responders who attended, including Jonathan Gallier, Advanced Practitioner (Critical Care), Kate Austin, Paramedic, and Bobby Carrigan, Paramedic.

Daughter Rachael said: “Although the five ambulance service responders couldn’t bring my dad back, they still did a fantastic job at trying and kept going for longer than I expected they would.”

To honour her father's memory, Rachael and her family donated his pacemaker to the Small Animal Hospital at the University of Glasgow, where it could, in the future, be reused to help a dog with a life-threatening heart condition.

Rachael said: “Dad spent a large part of his life caring for animals. Knowing his pacemaker could help save a dog felt like the most fitting tribute I could give him. It doesn't take away the grief, but it gives us something good to hold onto. Dad would have been proud. It means Dad's story doesn't end with loss; it ends with kindness.

"Nearly 300 people turned up to my dad’s funeral and many people shared such lovely stories of his kindness towards them, which felt doing this even more fitting."