The man who gave more than first aid

0 - 0 • Last updated 23 Oct 2008 12:58

"I am a Christian and that is what helped me get through. I knew people were saying prayers and that gave me the strength to be able to do it.'

After the crowds were long gone and the 116 men who were rescued had returned to their homes, John Wilson, the first aid man in the days before nurses were on site, had the heartbreaking job of dealing with the men who perished.

Men whom he knew and spoke to every day. Men to whom he had handed explosives before they went down the shaft.

Now he had to prepare them for their last journey.

His recollections of the disaster are still fresh in the mind. He remembers every detail for he was very much involved in the whole tragedy.

For during the three days the men were entombed John was involved in the rescue attempts.

'I was babysitting the night it happened. My wife came down from her friend"s house to tell me something serious was going on at Knockshinnoch because there were motors going up and down.

'I went up to see what had happened and she never saw me again for three days.

When I got there I went to the offices. The manager was in a terrible state.

'Folk didn"t ken what was happening - they were just depending on the brains of the mining folk.'

John was responsible for dealing with any injuries while the pit was working.

His expert medical knowledge meant that he was of invaluable use to doctors on the scene as the men emerged from the pit.

The miners were coming out, some in stretchers, some by foot but most needed some kind of assistance which John, who describes himself as a surface worker, was there to provide before they were carted off to Ballochmyle.

Matt Sanderson, the author of the harrowing Inside the Barrier, wrote in his booklet about the crucial role John played in his long walk to safety.

'The two lights I had seen ahead of me were Dr Andrew Fyfe, our local doctor and John Wilson, Knockshinnoch"s senior first aid man. Dr Fyfe asked 'How do you feel?'. To which I replied that my head was pounding ... I lay down on the pavement. John was kneeling at an oxygen cylinder. He gave me the mask and I took three good intakes of oxygen. My head cleared immediately ...'

John was one of the first people the men saw as they walked out - a familiar face in all the chaos.

When they caught a glimpse of him they knew then they had survived.

But the dedicated man had another more onerous duty to perform - for after spending all his efforts trying to get the miners out alive he was with those who never went home, wiping off the black soot for the last time.

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This article appeared in Cumnock Chronicle 23 Oct 08

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