Cllr Geoff Barraclough, left, and Cllr Ed Pitt Ford came to the aid of a man in Tachbrook Market

TWO councillors who saved a man’s life by performing CPR on him and fetching a defibrillator say they were compelled to intervene because others didn’t.

Labour’s Geoff Barraclough and Conservative Ed Pitt Ford said they had been out campaigning when they noticed a man “white as a sheet” lying unconscious in the middle of Tachbrook Market in Pimlico on February 27.

The man had been lying face down between stalls with his eyes open, but no one had approached him to help or called 999.

“So I called the emergency services,” said Cllr Barraclough. “They said, ‘turn him over. Is he breathing?’ I said, ‘No, he’s not breathing’. ‘Can you get a defibrillator?’ and I knew where one was. It was just around the corner at the GP.”

Cllr Barraclough said he looked up and saw Cllr Pitt Ford. He told him to grab the defibrillator from Victoria Medical Centre in Upper Tachbrook Street. Cllr Pitt Ford returned with the life-saving equipment and a doctor moments later.

Cllr Barraclough said: “I was, meanwhile, doing very amateur CPR, as directed by the call handler. I had never done that before but hopefully I might have done some good. Fortunately the GP then came along with the defibrillator and began doing CPR in the more professional manner, but she couldn’t find the pulse.

“Then the ambulance crew arrived and they did their wonders with injections and defibrillators and they brought him around.

“This was 15 minutes after I called in the emergency to 999. So very impressive work from the ambulance crew.”

The councillors were told that the man was taken to hospital and survived. They suspect he suffered a heart attack but hadn’t taken his name or details so they could check in on him.

Cllr Barraclough said he almost didn’t intervene after thinking the man had become ill after ingesting too much drugs and alcohol.

He added: “But it was quite clear from a cursory examination that something more serious had gone on.

“Clearly, at that point, you’ve got to do something, right?

“And I was slightly unnerved by the fact that nobody in the area had done that already and would urge anybody… if you do see somebody in trouble, call 999. It’s much better to be safe than sorry.”

Cllr Pitt Ford said: “When I saw someone lying down on the ground, I was trying to wrack my brain to remember my CPR.

“I was kind of glad I got the job of going off to get the defibrillator.

“But, similarly, I have come across bodies on the street and nudged to check if they’re alive because I think it’s quite important we don’t just walk past.”