Video: TV star Carol Smillie teaches CPR with help of Proclaimers hit

By Martin McLaughlin

It is a rousing, footstomping pop number which has long served as the unofficial anthem of Scottish football fans and the soundtrack for revellers in search of a good time.

Since its release 30 years ago, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) has been recorded by artists from across the musical spectrum, from underground punk rockers Down by Law through to the shrill anthropomorphic charms of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

But in what may be the most improbable version to date, veteran television presenter Carol Smillie has covered Charlie and Craig Reid’s 1988 hit while cheerfully trying to revive a stricken pensioner.

The quirky take on the timeless song forms the soundtrack for a new campaign designed to encourage hundreds of thousands of Scots to learn how to carry out CPR.

The simple yet lifesaving medical procedure involves giving chest compressions to someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest, helping to keep blood pumping around their body.

By chance, the timing of the compressions matches the tempo of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), a discovery which inspired the Scottish Government to record the new cover with the Save a Life for Scotland partnership, complete with a lyrical twist.

The accompanying video, which has quickly gained traction online, sees Smillie appearing from a shed to help Jimmy, an elderly man who is lying unconscious in his garden.

Pressing issue

She administers CPR in front of a metallic cat ornament, singing: “I will press 500 times, and I will press 500 more.”

Health secretary Shona Robison who launched the film yesterday, said it was an attempt to impart the importance of learning CPR skills to “new audiences”.

“Everybody knows 500 Miles and of course, the rhythm of it is exactly the rhythm you require when you’re administering CPR,” she said.