THE family of legendary Finn Harps player Sean ‘Wizard’ McGowan have thanked those who assisted him after he suffered a medical emergency at the weekend.
Mr McGowan was playing at the Ballybofey United Legends match on Saturday when he became unwell about 20 minutes into the game.
Thanks to the quick actions of those present and the arrival of emergency services and a first responder, Mr McGowan is now recovering in hospital.
His son and former Finn Harps footballer, Shaun ‘Wizard’ McGowan, told the Donegal News that his dad is in “great form”.
Although his dad now awaits a triple bypass heart operation, Shaun has highlighted that things could have taken a very different turn had it not been for the lifesaving actions of those who came to Sean’s immediate assistance.
“He was maybe only 10 yards from me at the time, and he said himself he just felt dizzy, and he went down,” explained Shaun.
“We thought he was actually joking at the time because that’s the kind of character he is. But he went down, and a call went up, and everybody reacted. Fortunately, within 30 seconds there were people working on him, and the right people that knew what they were doing.”
CPR was commenced and a defibrillator was used straight away by trained individuals.
“That saved him, definitely,” said Shaun. “Having the defib there, and the people that were there.
“Brendan Coyle, he’s a retired paramedic and there were four firemen there that were able to do the CPR.
“And there was the first responder called out, and there was another first responder then that was actually at the match watching. So it was a miracle really that it was happening, the people that were there to do it.”
After emergency services were called, two ambulances attended the scene along with a doctor and an Air Ambulance.
Shaun said his family are “eternally grateful” to everyone who helped, including teammates and spectators at the match who made a cordon for Sean’s privacy.
“When you sit back and look at it now, you just realise how lucky he was for the people that were there, because anywhere else it would have been a different story,” said Shaun. “We’ll be eternally grateful for that and to Brendan Coyle and the firemen Chris Patton, Barney Lafferty, Damian Glackin, Noel McDevitt, Mickey Ferry, Aidan Thompson.”
Ballybofey United FC also issued a statement confirming that a medical emergency had occurred at the Legends match.
They thanked everyone who helped in the situation.
“This incident also serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of CPR training and ensuring that people know where their nearest community defibrillators is located and how to use it,” they added.