Two runners who survived a sudden cardiac arrest within weeks of each other thanks to the same defibrillator are appealing for the life-saving devices to be publicly registered.

Malcolm Hughes, 64, from Linlithgow, collapsed and stopped breathing in March this year during a relay race on Glasgow Green.

A defibrillator located 200 metres away was used to restart his heart.

A few weeks later, in April, 59-year-old Stephen Lappin, from Glasgow, also suffered a cardiac arrest while he was taking part in a lunchtime run in the park.

The same defib was used to restart his heart.

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In both cases a member of the public called 999 and the emergency call handler directed them to the nearest defibrillator registered on The Circuit – the national network which allows emergency services to locate and direct callers to the life saving devices.

The defib was on the outside wall of the nearby boathouse.

There are currently over 98,000 defibrillators registered on The Circuit across the UK, but they are not evenly distributed.

Data has shown that deprived communities need better support to help improve response times to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The British Heart Foundation fears that gaps in the map of defibrillators are putting lives at risk.

The heart charity is now asking all organisations with defibs to register them, which means they are publicly available in an emergency.

Mr Hughes said: “I was running when I started to feel unwell and shortly after that I blacked out.

"Another runner phoned 999 and was directed to the defibrillator which was about 200 meters away at the boathouse.

"I’m just incredibly fortunate that it happened when it did, where it did.

“One of the main reasons that I'm still alive today is that the passersby who witnessed my collapse were directed to the nearest defibrillator by the emergency services.

"This was only possible because the defib had been registered on The Circuit.”

Stephen Lappin and Malcolm Hughes suffered cardiac arrests out of the blue earlier this year (Image: BHF) Mr Lappin, who is also supporting the appeal, had been taking part in the 3k on the Green event when he almost died.

He said: "People told me that I collapsed spectacularly and got everyone’s attention.

"Someone went to fetch the defibrillator, and I understand that I had several minutes of CPR and then one shock from the defibrillator.

"The fact that the defib was there, so close to me, is the reason why I am here today.

"What are the odds of two people and the same defib? It's miraculous.”

The defibrillator was registered, meaning that the emergency call handler was able to give out the code to unlock its box so that it could be used.

Neither Mr Hughes nor Mr Lappin knows what caused their cardiac arrests, but both men have now been fitted with ICDs (implantable cardioverter defibrillators) which will issue a shock to their heart in the event of another cardiac arrest.

There are around 3,200 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) in Scotland each year and the survival rate is less than one in 10.

Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by up to 10% so knowing where the nearest defibrillator is located could be the difference between life and death.

Rebecca Toal, a GP and amateur rower, made sure the recently renovated boathouse had a defib and that it was registered on The Circuit.

She has the volunteer role of ‘defibrillator guardian’ which means she ensures the defib is reset and ready for use again when it has been used.

The defibrillator which saved their lives was registered on a national database known as The Circuit, but not all devices are registered (Image: BHF) These two occasions are the only time it has been deployed since it was installed in 2023.

She said: “When I found out that our defibrillator had saved two men’s lives it was overwhelming and quite emotional.

“Had the defibrillator not been available to the public and registered on The Circuit then these two men may have lost their lives.

“It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to register a defibrillator, and it saves lives, so really it is a no-brainer.”

Availability of defibrillators is crucial in the event of a cardiac arrest, but it is impossible to know how many defibrillators there are across Scotland which are not registered, and therefore not visible to the emergency services and available to the public.

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Judy O’Sullivan, director of innovation in health programmes at the British Heart Foundation said: “When someone has a cardiac arrest, a defibrillator could mean the difference between life or death.

"Every minute someone has to wait for a defibrillator, their chance of survival drops by 10%.

“It is vital that the emergency services know where defibrillators are so they can direct people to access them quickly and easily.

"Worryingly, all too often when someone has a cardiac arrest the location of the nearest available defibrillator is unknown because many of these life-saving devices are not visible to ambulance services.

“We’re determined to change this by urging organisations with a defibrillator to register it online immediately on The Circuit; the national defibrillator network which is connected to every UK ambulance service."