May 2012

More on the appeal

 

With Muamba's help, we're shooting for more life-savers

Fabrice MuambaWe've teamed up with the Premier League and Sky Sports to help fill football stadiums with more life-savers, capable of helping someone who has had a cardiac arrest.

Our new appeal, supported by Fabrice Muamba, the Premier League and its clubs, is asking for help to train more people in emergency life support skills, including CPR.

It costs us around £5 to train someone with the skills to save a life.

Our Life-saver appeal was officially launched at the 10 stadiums hosting this weekend’s Barclays Premier League matches, including Bolton Wanderers’ Reebok Stadium. We're urging fans of the beautiful game to donate £5 to the British Heart Foundation to create another life-saver.

The appeal is also being supported by Wolves and England midfielder, Matt Jarvis.

Our Director of Fundraising, Louise Parkes, said: “The collapse of Fabrice Muamba has shown just how important it is for more people to know how to use CPR to help someone who’s had a cardiac arrest.

“We want every seat in every stadium across the UK to be filled by someone who knows how to help in a medical emergency. That vision could become a reality because it costs just £5 to equip someone with the skills to save a life.

The best result we can hope for is scores of generous donations which will help us to continue our life-saving work

“The best result we can hope for this weekend is scores of generous donations which will help us to continue our life-saving work.”

Fabrice Muamba used Twitter to urge fans to support our appeal by donating £5.

We teach simple skills that save lives through our Heartstart initiative, including assessing an unconscious patient, performing CPR, dealing with choking and serious bleeding, and helping some that may be having a heart attack.

We also help place vital defibrillators where they are needed the most. We've placed 6,000 in the community since we started donating them in 1996. We know of at least 230 lives that have been saved through our investment.

The Life-saver appeal has been promoted in match day programmes, on advertising boards and on a giant on-pitch flag before each match. The appeal will also be promoted in our 700 shops across the UK.