Defibrillator for Brine Leas

Some of you might have noticed just before Christmas that there were quite a few items on Buy/Sell that asked for "donations to my son's fundraising project for Brine Leas School". I thought that now might be a good time to explain!

My son is in year 12 at BL6. Along with his A levels he is doing a qualification called an EPQ, basically you choose something you have an interest in and either do a 10,000 word essay or 2,000 words and a project.

Suffering from dyslexia, 2,000 words and a project appealed to Harry! The subject was easy for him to decide!

It is his aim this year to raise awareness about the little known fact that every week in the UK, at least 12 previously fit and healthy young people die from cardiac arrest.

To raise awareness that for every minute without access to a defibrillator the chances of survival decrease by 10%, meaning that if you have to wait 1 minute for a defibrillator you have a 90% chance of survival, but if you have to wait 9 minutes, you have only a 10% chance of survival.

He hopes to raise enough funds to be able to buy at least one AED (Automated External Defibrillators) for the 6th form block, which accommodates not only staff and students, but also those attending evening classes throughout the year.

I know that in Audlem and surrounding villages we are lucky having several AED's available, and fortunate also to have dedicated volunteers who take time and trouble to run the fabulous Audlem Heart Start classes, which our family have been fortunate to attend, and I would highly recommend.

Harry aims to organise CPR training for fellow students and work in conjunction with the wonderful charity Cry for Matthew to work towards free cardiac screening days for young people at the end of this year.

Why would a 17 year old want to do all this you may wonder. Well, our family has a poor record when it comes to the cardiac gene sadly, but on a positive note, four members of our family had their lives saved at various points due to the use of Automated External Defibrillators, so we have first hand experience of how important CPR & AED's really are.

If you have access to a Facebook page, please search Defibs 4 BL6 (or click here) and 'Like' the page. It won't cost you anything, it will just show support for a local boy who is trying his best to make a real difference.
Thank you.

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