A good Samaritan has told how she tried to save the life of a dad who was gunned down outside his own home.
Laura Thomson gave CPR to Graham “Kermit” Williamson as he lay dying on the street in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, after the incident last month.
The 26-year-old later died in hospital but childminder Laura says she refused to give up on him.
She said: “I couldn’t leave the man dying on the street without trying something so that’s why I went down. I tried CPR but was unsuccessful.
“It was totally overwhelming. It didn’t seem real. It was like something from a movie. It was absolute chaos. I hadn’t noticed everything else going on, I was focused on what I was doing.
“I didn’t know the man but because I’m trying to save his life I felt like I knew him.
“I’m talking to him even though he’s dying and egging him on to survive. It’s a moment of my life I will never forget.
“I knew we were losing him, but we couldn’t leave him lying dying. It’s tiring but I kept it going until the police arrived.”
Armed cops turned up and, as previously reported in the Record, Laura said it was 40 minutes before paramedics were able to get to Kermit while the area was made safe.
There was also a lack of a defibrillator nearby which first aid-trained Laura, 36, says she is now fundraising to buy.
She told our sister paper the Hamilton Advertiser: “I asked someone to get me a defibrillator but there were none available.
"The nearest one was at least 10 minutes away. It might not have saved him but would have given him a better chance.
“It took me a while to get over it, those first few days were horrible. I saw the ambulance coming and the man’s friends were trying to get it to come down, but they refused because a gun was involved.
“They had to wait for armed response to come so he had to wait about 40 minutes before an ambulance got to him.”
Laura says the traumatic event has been on her mind ever since.
But she is aiming to raise £1500 to cover the cost of the defibrillator by completing a roller-skate marathon in Blantyre. The event will see Laura skate four miles every day between September 28 and October 5.
She said: “He didn’t die until he was on the way to hospital so if a defibrillator had been available right away and given him a proper pulse, it might have been able to save his life.”
Donations can be made at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/laura-thomson-512.
Two men have appeared in court on charges in connection with the death.
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