Bernard Gallacher: “I’m living proof that a defibrillator can save lives”

Bernard Gallacher is an official supporter of our Drive for Defibs campaign

Bernard Gallacher has spent several years campaigning for more defibrillators on golf courses. Now he wants you and your club to do the same

Our Drive for Defibs campaign is brought to you in association with Motocaddy

Three-time Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher has become the latest golfer to join our Drive for Defibs campaign and is calling on every golf club to install a defibrillator, 10 years on from one saving his life.

Research by Golf Care in 2019 found that around two-thirds of UK golf courses do not have an on-site defibrillator. Currently, there are more than 2,000 golf clubs in the UK, of which fewer than 700 have officially registered their defibrillator(s) on the National Golf Course Defibrillator Register.

Although progress has been made in recent years, Gallacher is urging all golf courses to install a defibrillator. It comes as the 74-year-old reflects on the sudden cardiac arrest that left him ‘medically dead’ and in a coma for seven days in August 2013.

RELATED: What is the Drive for Defibs campaign?

“Luckily for me, the hotel had a defibrillator and there was an A&E nurse in the audience who knew what was happening and performed CPR on me,” says Gallacher, who was about to deliver a guest speech when he collapsed. “She kept me alive until the ambulance came. 

“I would say I was pretty fit for my age at the time. I was a regular gym goer, I didn’t really have any health issues. I had no underlying heart problems. It came completely out of the blue and I was lucky to survive it. I would just like other people to be as fortunate as I was.”

Ten years on, Gallacher has no clear memory of the events that night, or the fraught journey in the back of the ambulance when they had to use a defibrillator three times to shock his heart back to life.

He was fitted with an implantable cardiac device at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and has since pushed for CPR training at golf clubs and the widespread accessibility of defibrillators in as many public areas as possible.

“It was my wife’s idea to try and put a defibrillator in the two golf clubs that I was associated with, Wentworth and Bathgate Golf Club in Scotland,” explains Gallacher.

“She found out that Wentworth had four defibrillators, we just didn’t know about them or where they were located. That’s what made us realize that we had to raise awareness as well. We donated a defibrillator to Bathgate and funnily enough, it did help to save someone’s life just a few months later.

“We then launched a campaign with the PGA and wrote to every golf club, asking them to install a defibrillator to help save lives. The take-up was really encouraging, but it’s 2023 now and there are still an awful lot of defibrillators that need to go into golf clubs up and down the country.

“I’m the recipient of a defibrillator, that’s why I am still here today. I’m living proof that it works, and it can save lives. I just think it’s a dereliction of duty for committees and management to not have one.”

Figures show that as many as 400 golfers a year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest on UK golf courses, with just one in 10 surviving. It has been proven that the use of both CPR and a defibrillator can increase the chances of survival by more than 50 percent, compared to just nine percent with CPR alone.

However, for every minute that passes after a person suffers a cardiac arrest, their chances of survival drop by 10 percent, so quick access to a defibrillator can be the difference between life and death. 

“Every golf club – big or small – has a duty to provide a defibrillator and educate their members on safe usage,” adds Gallacher. “The statistics don’t lie, and more awareness is certainly needed. 

“It is wholly irresponsible for a golf club not to have at least one on-site defibrillator in 2023. Defibrillators should be a lot more commonplace outside of golf, too. My goal is for them to be as common in society as fire extinguishers because defibrillators save more lives than people who die in fires.”

If you’ve got a story that you’d like to be told, you’re hosting a fundraising event inspired by our campaign, or your golf club has recently installed a defibrillator, get in touch with us, here.

Motocaddy’s GPS app, which includes CPR guidance, AED locator and emergency contacts, is free to download on iOS and Android devices from the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

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About the author

Michael Catling – Features Editor

Michael Catling is Today’s Golfer‘s Features Editor and an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.

Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with dozens of Major champions, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, and Justin Thomas.

A former member of Ufford Park and Burghley Park, Michael has been playing golf since he was 11 and currently plays off a handicap of 10.

Away from golf he’s a keen amateur chef and has his own healthy recipes website. He also loves playing squash, going to the gym, and following Chelsea FC.

Michael uses a Ping G driver, Ping G 3-wood, Ping G Crossover 3-iron, Ping G Series irons (4-PW), Ping Glide wedges (52º, 56º, 60º), TaylorMade MySpider Tour Putter, and Srixon AD333 golf ball.

Get in touch with Michael via email and follow him on Twitter.