Last Christmas, I gave you my Heart….

On Christmas afternoon last, Patrick Foley collapsed on the street in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. He had suffered a cardiac arrest. Quick-thinking Gardai grabbed a Heartsine PAD350P defibrillator from the outside wall of a local pharmacy and raced to help Patrick. A single shock from the AED followed by a couple of minutes of CPR was required to restore Patrick’s heart rhythm and he was transported to hospital by the National Ambulance Service. Thankfully after a couple of weeks of rehabilitation, Patrick was discharged from hospital after making a full recovery.

As part of our ‘Forward Hearts’ programme, in conjunction with Stryker, we donate a free Heartsine PAD350P defibrillator to cardiac arrest survivors, when one of our AEDs was used. Today Patrick’s granddaughter Emma present this Forward Hearts unit to Lisa, the principal of her school, Scoil Naomh Bríd. Lisa was delighted with the donation, “It’s so reassuring to have this in the school, hopefully we’ll never need to use it though” she said.