Crash victim leaves lasting legacy for those in need
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A COUPLE who lost their son in a road accident have donated defibrillators to police in the Highlands in his memory.
Sandra and Gordon McKandie’s son Keiran was 16 when he collided with a car while cycling near Craigend in Moray in 2016.
Since his tragic death his parents have been fundraising in his honour and donated defibrillators to officers in the north east last year.
The devices have been deployed 39 times, and saved the life of a 52-year-old man in Peterhead.
Now they have rolled the scheme out to the Highlands, handing over the latest batch of six defibrillators. They will be installed in road policing vehicles based in Dingwall and Fort William.
"Hopefully this will create integration of emergency response," Mrs McKandie said.
"Now that the police have got this equipment they will be able to take action when people are in a life-threatening situation.
"It will give people a better chance of survival. If it saves someone’s life it’s absolutely worth it, and to allow Keiran to contribute is our biggest aim for this charity.
"People talk about us being brave but that’s not the case. It’s very, very hard every day but it’s about allowing Keiran to continue to have an impact.
"He would have achieved so much in his life and this is a small part of allowing him to do that.
"It’s amazing what Keiran has done but it doesn’t compensate for him not being here."
Mrs McKandie says politicians and emergency services have to start acting to make sure lives are saved.
"Police Scotland were trying for a long time to get defibrillators in cars before Keiran’s accident but due to the political rhetoric, it didn’t happen," she said. "It’s down to Keiran that it’s happening now.
"The time for talking is over. We want to get things moving and we hope it won’t take 15 months for it to be rolled out in the next division we target.
"We need to increase the community resilience in rural areas and make sure that the response is there if people need it."
Road policing Chief Inspector Stewart Mackie said: "We are very grateful to the McKandie family for their generous gift. The defibrillators will now be placed in all the road policing vehicles in the Highlands and Islands Division.
"Hopefully we won’t have to use these too often but it gives us an extra tool so that if we are called to an incident, we have an opportunity to save lives.
"One life has already been saved by these defibrillators. You always live in hope that you don’t have to use them but it is a sad reality that these things happen. If we do save another life it is absolutely worth it."
