Public Access Defibrillator

APPEAL FOR FUNDING TOWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATOR Back in September 2017 my wife and myself decided we needed to lose weight and get fitter. We enrolled at the Body One Fitness Centre in Great Harwood and in the 11 months since we have succeeded in our aims - we are both a good few stone lighter and the fittest we have been in years. On the morning of Monday August 6th we had just completed a Spin class and we were leaving the gym with some of our friends. I suddenly started feeling a little bit dizzy, I grabbed hold of the wall to steady myself then - NOTHING - no pain, no nothing. I have no recollection of the next hour and only know what had happened from my wife Marion who witnessed everything. I had collapsed and stopped breathing and was in cardiac arrest. Alex Johnson from Body One immediately started to administer CPR whilst one of our friends rang 999. It took 18 minutes for the ambulance to arrive during which time Alex continued to give me CPR. When they arrived the paramedics used a defibrillator to shock my heart back into a rhythm. Against all odds they got my heart going again. I woke up in the ambulance en route to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where I underwent an emergency angioplasty procedure to insert two stents into a coronary artery. I survived against all the odds but still have some way to go in my recovery. Just 8% of patients survive a cardiac arrest and less than half of bystanders would intervene if they witnessed a collapse. However if defibrillation through a defibrillator occurs within 1 minute of the victim collapsing, the victim's survival rate increases to 90%. Modern defibrillators are easy to use and provide spoken instructions. Many defibrillators will also have diagrams or a screen to help you. The defibrillator detects the heart's rhythm, it won't deliver a shock unless one is needed. This is the reason for my appeal. I am hoping to raise enough funds to provide a Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) at the Body One Fitness Centre in Deveron Mill, Great Harwood. For me the need is obvious, the location is several hundred yards from the nearest PAD in the town centre, there are many small local businesses immediately local to the gym and just across the road are the local allotments that are predominantly used by the elderly. Many of you will remember that my Dad collapsed and died from a heart attack less than 200 yards from Body One whilst on his way to his allotment.  I am now appealing to your generosity. Many, many friends and colleagues provided great words of support, well wishes and materiak support in the immediate aftermath of my heart attack for which I will be forever grateful. Now I'm asking for one more show of support. If you are able to; please, please make a small donation and share this story around your family, friends and colleagues - what happened to me could happen to anyone. If I am lucky enough to raise sufficient funds, any excess will be shared 50:50 between The Philip Maher Foundation  and The British Heart Foundation  I thank you all in anticipation of your support and I thank you once again for all the support and well wishes you have already given. I appreciate every single one.