Speeding stop turns into roadside revival

Heart-stopping dashcam video has captured the moment a driver in the US went into cardiac arrest after being pulled over for speeding.

The footage filmed from Maine police officer Matthew Harrington's squad car shows the silver SUV come to a rest on the side of the road yesterday.

Officer Harrington approaches the vehicle, ready to issue the driver a warning when he hears a woman's desperate screams.

Inside, 84-year-old Gavin Falconer sits unconscious behind the wheel as his panicked wife cries for help.

Officer Harrington pulls an unresponsive Mr Falconer from his seat and performs chest compressions before resorting to a defibrillator.

Luckily for Mr Falconer, it worked.

The next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.

"They said you were a goner, and you were lucky because the policeman was an EMT (emergency medical technician) and he knew just what to do," Mr Falconer told WCSH.

Harrington said all police are trained to do what he did but his 10 years as a paramedic came in handy.

"Obviously Mr Falconer was very fortunate that we were right there," he said.

"You have a short window to defibrillate someone, and luckily for everyone involved we were right there when it happened."

Mr Falconer is recovering in hospital.

Source: WCSH
Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Martin Zavan