Staff reporter
A last minute decision to attend the funeral of a colleague saved the life of a 79-year-old priest.
Fr Michael Coen of Kilconly in Co. Galway was due to hear Confessions at Knock Shrine but decided instead to concelebrate the funeral Mass of Fr Michéal Mannion in Clonbur.
However, Fr Coen suffered a heart attack just as the Mass was about to start and had to be revived by parishioners using a defibrillator they had recently purchased.
Fr Coen told The Irish Mail on Sunday that the decision to switch duties had saved his life.
“The defibrillator and the fact that Clobur had a team trained in how to use it, definitely kept me on this Earth,” he said.