The Daily Mirror

Defibrillators Save Lives

2023

When Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch after a cardiac arrest in 2021 a defibrillator saved him. But not everyone is so fortunate.

Each year an estimated 30,000 people suffer a heart attack outside of hospital but only one in 10 of them survive. So, the Daily Mirror launched their campaign for defibrillators to be installed in public spaces across the country.

The Daily Mirror said: “If these machines were available in sports clubs, gyms, community centres and libraries, hundreds of lives could be saved.”

The campaign has since achieved success after success.  In December the government announced a £1 million fund to place 1,000 defibrillators in parks, post offices and community centres across the country.

In January, because of the Mirror’s tenacious campaigning in print and online, Ministers said they would install the life-saving machines in every secondary school in England. The team at the Mirror worked with cross-party politicians and organisations such as the British Heart Foundation to secure these successes.

The bedrock of the campaign was the Mirror’s reporting on the real-life stories that highlighted just how crucial these machines are, including their inspiring report on Naomi Rees-Issitt who had raised thousands of pounds to buy defibrillators in her hometown following the tragic death of her teenage son.

The campaign also received the backing of Lizzie Jones, the wife of Rugby League player Danny Jones who died of a heart attack during a game eight years ago. The Mirror also worked with Conservative MP, Jonathan Gullis, the chair of Westminster’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for defibrillators, on access to the life-saving machines, to put pressure on the government.

Their work paid off when the Health Minister Helen Whately announced the £1 million fund to pay for defibrillators in community spaces across Britain, helping to bring about real change and helping to save lives.