Man reunited with ambulance crew which saved his life after assault

A man who was left with a severe brain injury and a shattered jaw after a random attack has been reunited with the paramedics who saved his life.

James MacMartin from Glasgow was walking home from a pub on Dumbarton Road on Septmber 26 last year after a friend’s funeral.

The 47-year-old was attacked by a man who punched and kicked him into oncoming traffic, but he was missed by passing vehicles.

He has only been able to talk about the attack recently having been reunited with Nikki Webster and Lynne Ruthven from the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) who attended to Mr MacMartin.

The former lorry driver said: “I don’t remember a thing about the assault. I remember finishing a pint, and the next thing I remember is waking up in hospital.

“Once I was out of Intensive Care, people in the pub came and told me what had happened.

“I was disgusted, it was very scary. I was told by the nurses as well; they did not think I was going to make it through the night, I was in a bad state.

“I was really in a bad, bad way. I was full of drugs from the ambulance crew.”

Mr MacMartin spent three days in the ICU and a further two weeks at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Doctors performed an emergency operation when he was taken in and a dental surgeon inserted two metal plates into his lower jaw.

He is now thinking of becoming a paramedic, saying of the crew: “they saved my life that day.”

Mr MacMartin added: “I don’t think in their line of work they get the opportunity to receive thanks for what they do.

“If they did not get me to hospital quickly it could have been different – that made a difference, without a doubt.”