THE family of Blues musician Rab McCullough – who played with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Rory Gallagher – have asked the community to keep him in their prayers as he remains in an induced coma following a cardiac arrest.
Rab took unwell at the Andersonstown Leisure Centre on Monday where he once worked as a life guard.
Expressing her shock, Rab's wife Marian said: "He was so fit and trained all his life. He done all of his marathons and worked in the Leisure Centre.
"Even when his knee was bad a couple of weeks ago he made his way to the park to meet with a few of the guys he would have worked with. This meant that he got to see people and with his gigs being cancelled due to Covid, he would have got a wee chat with people.
"He loved to sit at the door and get a chat with the people going past the house."
Describing her husband's condition, Marian added: "Rab is in an induced coma and on Thursday they are due to take him off the machine and out of the coma to see if there has been any brain damage.
"We don't know the length of time between him taking the cardiac arrest and CPR beginning so it is hard to assess the potential damage.
"I hadn't realised until the consultant informed me that a cardiac arrest is worse than a heart attack and that CPR needs to begin almost immediately.
"We are just thankful that there was a nurse in the pool when it happened and that she jumped out and began working with him until the ambulance came.
"He was due to have an appointment with the cardiologist on Tuesday. That appointment was supposed to have taken place last year but had been rescheduled due to the pandemic."
The thoughts and prayer of everyone at the Andersonstown News and North Belfast News are with Rab and the McCullough family.
