Stuart is the premises manager at the school where his son, Ethan, had a cardiac arrest aged 15 on the school playing fields. Stuart ran to the scene when he heard, to find the school receptionist Maggie Setterfield already doing CPR. He joined in the resuscitation effort, carrying out rescue breaths. Stuart used a defibrillator on Ethan, which he had unpacked and fitted with a battery only days before.
Ethan was found to have a narrowed coronary artery and he had heart bypass surgery. Ethan recovered quickly and has since applied to study blacksmithing and metalworking at college.
‘As a fit and outdoorsy boy, it is the last thing I thought would happen to Ethan,’ says Stuart. ‘It was a terrible and frightening experience but as soon as I remembered we had a defibrillator, I didn’t doubt the story would be OK.
‘My story is just one of many stories that shows the impact of these lifesaving devices. When you register your defibrillator, it is connected to the ambulance service so they can direct people to them in an emergency. You can also easily and efficiently maintain the defibrillator so that it is up to date and ready to use in an emergency, to make sure more lives are saved.’