GENEROUS students pumped chests around the clock to give the vital spark to Alloa Co-operative Bowling Club.
The University of Stirling Paramedic Society raised enough cash for a defibrillator, which can bring a casualty back from the dead with an electric shock to the heart, which they kindly donated after receiving a helping hand from James Lindsay.
He's the former president of the club and told the Advertiser: "I volunteered to take photos at a 24 hour CPR-a-thon a wee group of medical students were doing at Stirling.
"They raised money and for helping them out they donated a defibrillator to the club, which was very good of them.
"We've been trying to get one for two years but they're over £1,000 and we were struggling to pay for it, so we really appreciate it.
"It was Provost Balsillie that put me in touch with them so it's a big thanks to Donald too."
The society held the event in March with the aim of raising enough money to get 40 defibrillators for schools across Stirling and Clackmannanshire who didn't have access to one.
Now the Alloa club, which is off Sunnyside Road, has been given a lifeline as the devices can prove the difference between life and death.
Someone who has had a cardiac arrest – when the heart stops beating – will be unconscious and will not be breathing properly.
Classed as clinically dead, without help the casualty generally has minutes to live.
A defibrillator can deliver an electric shock to try to restore a normal heart rhythm and bring them back from the dead.
CPR can keep a patient alive until a shock is delivered.
James said: "It's just in case the worst should happen, we've got it there.
"You've only got seconds to start CPR and having a defibrillator can make a real difference.
"These devices can save a life and it will be installed within the next week."
Volunteers from the club have been learning how to use the defib and James explained just how important they can be.
He said: "I've tried to resuscitate someone, I was out with my work when this guy collapsed at Linlithgow Palace.
"I did CPR - it was only later I found out he'd had a quadruple heart bypass a couple of weeks before.
"Everyone told me I couldn't have done anything more, but it stays with you.
"At least with this defibrillator we've got a chance of helping."
He went on: "We lost one member to a heart attack and we've got members in their golden era - although it could happen to anyone at any time.
"You hope we don't need it but in case we do, it's there. So a big thanks to the medical students."
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