Leading heart charity calls on communities to become lifesavers
The Circuit is the national defibrillator network which maps defibrillators across the UK so that ambulance services can direct bystanders to the nearest registered defibrillator if they see somebody having a cardiac arrest.
British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland (BHF NI) is calling on communities to help create a lifesaving map of 100,000 UK-wide defibrillator registrations, ensuring more lives can be saved in emergencies.
One man who knows only too well the importance of this is John Deery who miraculously survived a cardiac arrest at this year’s Belfast Marathon thanks to bystanders performing CPR and defibrillation.
The 63-year-old, who is originally from Eglinton, County Londonderry, and now lives in South Belfast, is an experienced long-distance runner, having completed many marathons and half-marathons.
At the start of 2024, John felt at his peak fitness and had no idea anything could be wrong.
Belfast Marathon
Looking back, John now realises he may have a had a warning sign when completing a 5k training run in the week approaching the Belfast Marathon.
John said: “The week before the Belfast marathon, I went to Montalto Estate to do a 5k. The second time around the circuit I felt out of breath, enough that I had to walk a little which was strange considering I was so fit and looking back, it was a sign. I put it down to having slight asthma and having been tired from completing the Madrid half marathon weeks before.”
However John was feeling fit and ready on marathon day on Bank Holiday Monday in early May 2024.
John’s last memory of that fateful day was turning onto the Upper Newtownards Road, just 500 metres after the start of the race. However he now knows that it wasn’t until the halfway mark of 13 miles that he had a cardiac arrest.
John talks about four people as his ‘angels’ – Paul and Regina McKeown, a sister in the Royal Victoria Hospital cardiac ward, and Peter O’Hare, who were in the right place at the right time to get him emergency attention, perform CPR and most importantly access and use a defibrillator which ultimately restarted John’s heart.
Peter’s story
Peter O’Hare who works at Stryker and oversees their defibrillator portfolio managed to restart John’s heart with CPR and a defibrillator.
Peter said: “I’m so thankful I was able to take immediate action and it shows the importance of having defibrillators in the community.”
The Circuit
Fearghal McKinney, head of BHF NI says: “When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts – early access to a defibrillator is vital to give someone the best chance of survival.
“I would urge anyone who has a defibrillator, whether in a public place, community or business but hasn’t yet registered it to please do so and help us create a lifesaving map of 100,000 defibrillator registrations, ensuring more lives are saved in emergencies.”
To register your defibrillator on The Circuit and for more information visit www.thecircuit.uk
