The whole World held its breath and prayed as Denmark’s Christian Eriksen collapsed into a cardiac arrest on the football pitch at the Euros in June 2021. As shocking as those scenes were, Christian’s life was saved by the prompt actions of teammates, medical staff, and the presence of a Defibrillator in the stadium! If an elite athlete can suffer a cardiac arrest, any of us can too right?

Similar circumstances conspired to save local man, Andy Gay on Christmas Eve, 2020. You may recognise Andy as the keen power-walker, regularly seen exercising around Glossop. Andy is profoundly grateful for the heroes that saved his life that day, and he wants to do everything he can to ensure others are saved if ever struck down as he was. Read more below about the local heroes who saved Andy’s life and get inspired to become a local life-saver too!

Your support will speed us toward our goal to deliver FOUR new defibrillators by Christmas 2021, into Whitfield, Gamesley, Manor Park and Hadfield. In fact we aim to overachieve and fund many more new defibrillator locations where they are needed most in our communities - priorities set by North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). You’re also invited to become a fundraising partner. Just think what you could achieve by setting your own personal, team or community challenge in support of saving lives? You’re invited to copy and paste a link to this JustGiving Page into your social media posts to invite your sponsors to reward your efforts!

Val Coachrane (Community Specialist Paramedic, NWAS) has selected the highest priority locations for AEDs where they can save most lives, starting with Whitfield, Gamesley, Manor Park and Hadfield, and we are working to secure host buildings (mainly public). We will be looking for volunteer Electrical installers, and volunteer Guardians to help maintain and replenish the AEDs to maximise their availability for emergencies.

And your fundraising will be doubled!!! Cllr Damien Greenhalgh has generously agreed to match our fundraising efforts £ for £ up to a max. £3,000, meaning when we reach £3,000 Damien will contribute a further £3,000 affording us £6,000 to fund at least the initial FOUR new defibrillators!

According to the British Heart Foundation, 33,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year and without CPR only one in ten will survive. Early defibrillation has been identified as the most important intervention, with survival rates increasing on average to at least five in ten. This means with more accessible defibs in our communities the closer we get to saving 15,000 more lives every year!

Defibrillators (also known as AEDs) are medical devices that help and support a rescue for a patient in cardiac arrest. They achieve this by applying a current of electricity across the heart to stop it, allowing it to reconfigure automatically. Modern AEDs are incredibly simple to operate, whereby clear voice prompts are given to guide the first responder step by step to saving a life. It is impossible to incorrectly operate the AED and cause any further harm to the patient. Once you have helped us fund the new AEDs we will plan an awareness campaign around CPR and AED operation, to ensure nobody is afraid to help a cardiac arrest victim.

Please DONATE to SAVE LIVES today!

ANDY'S MIRACULOUS STORY

We know that survival probability is massively influenced by; timely intervention i.e. good CPR technique of first responders, awareness of and presence of defibrillators, confidence of first responders to use the defib, and of course the response times of the emergency services.

Last Christmas all those factors came together to save Andy’s life! Off-duty A&E Nurse Rachel Bayley and Off-duty Fire-fighter Kallum Lucid were coincidentally on the scene as Andy collapsed, immediately performing first responder assessment of Andy. Critically, another passer-by, Sam Wilson was aware of a defibrillator stationed at Old Glossop Cricket Club and he fetched it quickly as Rachel and Kallum administered CPR to Andy.

Simultaneously Adrienne Sheldon called 999 and handled all the comms between Emergency services and the first responders. Also critically the first of several Paramedic crews arrived within minutes of Andy’s collapse, and a Helimed (Air Ambulance) was deployed to Fauvel Rd, also within minutes. Meanwhile with guidance from the 999 operator, Rachel and Kallum operated the defib, and with a single electric shock brought Andy back to life!

Emergency services had Andy into the care of Wythenshawe Cardiology doctors and Cardiothoracic surgeons within minutes (6-minute helicopter flight), where he underwent successful life-saving quadruple-bypass surgery on 12 January.

Andy extends his sincerest gratitude to each of the heroes who saved his life last Christmas, and is keen to recognise each hero known to him here;

- Rachel Bayley (Off-duty A&E Nurse)

- (Off-duty) FireFighter Kallum Lucid

- Sam Wilson (passer-by)

- Adrienne Sheldon (passer-by)

- Rob Murphy (Dukinfield) - NWAS first to arrive (in a car)

- Mike Ashton (Senior Paramedic Team Leader), plus another crew member

- John Carrie (Advanced Paramedic, Sharston)

- Adam Wager (Helimed Paramedic)

- And of course to the drivers, Helimed pilot, and all the nurses, doctors and surgeons at Wythenshawe hospital.