The new defib was unveiled by Ray Hall, Cllr Elaine Forehead, chair Van Allotments Tracey Davies, and founder of Jack’s Appeal, June Thomas
With the support from Van Community Council and charity Jack’s Appeal, the allotments on Castle Park, Caerphilly, unveiled the potentially life-saving equipment on Friday April 12.
Tracey Davies ,spoke to Caerphilly Observer: “We’ve been trying to sort this for a couple of years now but we didn’t have any electric here to charge the batteries.“ The solar panels we installed have solved that problem, and we couldn’t be happier to have this here.” The defibrillator itself is on the outside of the gate on Brookside Crescent, and will be available for public use.
June Thomas was also there for the launch, and knows the importance of defibrillator accessibility more than most. June lost her son, Jack Thomas, in 2012 aged just 15-years-old to a still unknown heart condition. To date, through Jack’s Appeal, June has manged to install more than 260 defibrillators across several counties in south Wales. Speaking to Caerphilly Observer, June said: “We first installed a defibrillator in Oakdale Comprehensive over ten years ago and its been amazing to see how far we’ve come. “There’s now a defibrillator at every comprehensive school in Caerphilly, and we’ve also carried out over 1,700 heart screenings in young people which has saved many lives. “This will hopefully never be needed, but it’s always good to have one available.”
