THE TIRELESS work of a Rugby mum to bring life-saving equipment to the streets in memory of her son has been boosted by a partnership with a media company.
Naomi Rees-Issitt’s charity the OurJay Foundation has struck an agreement to install publicly accessible defibrillators at Virgin Media O2 stores.
New OurJay Foundation defibrillator cabinets have now been installed outside the O2 stores in Rugby and Nuneaton, alongside Daniel Baird Foundation bleed control kits which can be used to save lives in an emergency.
The company started installing defibrillators in all its stores in 2020 – but until now, all of them were inside the stores, meaning they were only accessible during opening hours.
Naomi set up the charity following the tragic death of her 18-year-old son Jamie Rees from a cardiac arrest in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2022. Despite a defibrillator being located nearby, it was inaccessible.
Since then, Naomi has worked to supply public access defibrillators to try and prevent the same tragedy happening to other families.
She said: “Sadly, the nearest defibrillator to where Jamie collapsed was locked inside a school, meaning it could not be accessed by the bystanders trying to save his life.
“Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, any time, so 24/7 accessible defibrillators are vital in improving the survival rate.
“We look forward to continuing our work with Virgin Media O2 in this life saving project to ensure more defibrillators can be made 24/7 publicly accessible.
“We are so grateful for the support they have given us.”
The defibrillator cabinets are registered on ‘The Circuit’ – the UK’s national defibrillator network – meaning that when someone calls 999, emergency service operators can direct people to them quickly. Since January 2023, Virgin Media O2 defibrillators registered on The Circuit have been used in at least 16 cardiac emergencies.
Alison Fanthom, Head of Infrastructure at Virgin Media O2, said: “We’re proud to have rolled out defibrillators to every O2 store and hundreds of Virgin Media vans, putting live-saving equipment onto streets up and down the country.
“Through our partnership with OurJay Foundation, we’re now taking this a step further and doing what we can to make our defibrillators even more accessible so we can save even more lives.”
The OurJay Foundation has now installed over 270 defibrillators and saved at least 20 lives across the region. The charity also provides training in life-saving resuscitation skills. Visit www.ourjay.org.uk for more information.
