Gordon Smith ran the Glasgow Half Marathon on 29 September - World Heart Day - to thank staff at the Bristol Heart Institute for taking care of his son's partner Carla.

In May, Carla, 26, was on a night out in Bristol when she collapsed waiting for a taxi. Luckily, a member of staff from a nearby pub, Adam, was able to perform CPR for 15 minutes until the ambulance arrived.

The ambulance crew were able to start her heart on the fourth attempt with a defibrillator - 30 minutes after she collapsed.

Gordon said: "I visited Carla at the BHI at around 2am on Sunday morning. She was in an induced coma, wired up and plumbed into loads of high-tech equipment that was keeping her alive."

Three days later Carla came out of her coma. She had surgery to fit an internal defibrillator and three weeks later she was allowed home, where she is recovering well with Gordon's son Jamie.

Gordon added

It could have been very different. Carla's life has been saved by Adam, a persistent ambulance crew who would not give up hope and the wonderful staff at the heart institute. 

While Gordon lives locally to Bristol, he decided to take on the Glasgow Half Marathon in support of his brother Kenny.

Kenny had surgery for stage three bowel cancer in 2018 followed by intensive chemotherapy. He decided to run 100km in six weeks and Gordon joined him for the Glasgow half.

Gordon said: "I started running in 2015 after a challenge from a work colleague to run the Bristol 10k.

"This was my first half marathon and the training made my legs really sore! The pain was worth it when I passed the finish line on Glasgow Green."

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