‘They’d be alive today if we’d had defibrillators’
FOUR defibrillators could be installed in a seaside town, inspired by the memory of two people who died suddenly from heart attacks.
Friends of Linda Thomas and Graham Jones have raised more than £7,000 to install the potentially lifesaving equipment in publicly accessible locations around Pwllheli.
The friends, who are in a group called Curiad Calon (Heartbeat), have already paid for one automated external defibrillator (AED), which is now in place outside Tan y Marian, Morfa Garreg in Pwllheli.
Linda, 63, died three years ago when she suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night.
Graham, who was just five days away from his 60th birthday, passed away in February . His widow, Bethan, is an active supporter of Curian Calon and has been fundraising with the group.
Both lived near Tan y Marian and friends of Linda and Graham believe they could be alive today if they had access to the machine.
Linda’s sister, Ann Griffith, who lived next door at the time, performed CPR on Linda until the ambulance arrived but, sadly, paramedics were unable to revive her. Ann said: “If these defibrillators save just one life then I will be happy.”
There are currently three defibrillators in Pwllheli – at Asda on Sand Street, one in Pwllheli Golf Club and another in the Dwyfor Leisure Centre on Recreation Road – but none of them are available 24 hours a day.
The group hope to rehouse the equipment from inside Pwllheli Golf Club to outside the building so that it is accessible at all times.
They would also like to install another three AEDs, which cost around £1,800 to buy. The group have now organised a Family Fun Day at the Pontoon restaurant, Marinaland, from noonon Saturday to raise further funds.