The NMBF was recently approached by W. Bro. Alan Bensley of Ponteland Lodge MMM No. 1550 on behalf of his wife Helen who is manager of the British Heart Foundation’s Furniture and Electrical shop in Byker, about a campaign to raise funds for a campaign being run by the BHF.
The campaign is founded upon the experience of a young man called Harry Lovett who in February 2016 aged 7 years old, collapsed at an after-school football match from cardiac arrest. Fortunately for Harry a member of staff was able to immediately perform CPR for about 15 minutes whilst another called 999.
An ambulance rushed Harry to hospital where a team of doctors and nurses were able to save his life. Harry was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and fitted with an ICD an implantable defibrillator. Thanks to advances in treatment, developed by researchers funded by the BHF, he was back in school less than a month later. Harry doesn’t carry any gene changes known to be linked to HCM, so the exact cause of his condition remains unknown.
Donations made during campaigns such as this help fund researchers to understand more about conditions like these and help people affected like Harry. The BHF is aiming to raise £500,000 through fundraising and shop and store staff asking for add on donations at their tills. The last update on Monday 12th February was that £75,000 had been raised so far by these means.
The campaign is linked to ‘Going Red for Heart’ month where the BHF is encouraging people to search for ‘BHF RevivR’ online where they can learn CPR and how to recognize a cardiac arrest, you will also be shown how to use a defibrillator. The training is easy, free and quick – all you need is a mobile phone, tablet or laptop and a cushion. In 15 minutes, you could have the confidence to step in and save a life.
Each year over 30,000 people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK, with less than one in ten surviving – giving CPR and using a defibrillator can more than double someone’s chance of survival. You could also save a loved one’s life as eight out of ten of these out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home. If you want to learn more about CPR or how to use a defibrillator look for ‘BHF RevivR’ online and you’ll find all the details.
If anyone wants to fundraise or make a donation to the BHF you just need call into your local BHF shop or store.
The photo above shows our PGM R. W. Bro. Ray Walton presenting a cheque for £50 to Helen Bensley who is joined by David Ayre, Area Manager for BHF Furniture and Electrical Northeast, and the Commercial Director for BHF Mike Taylor, all of whom expressed their grateful thanks for our donation.
Another example of the NMBF supporting worthwhile charities.
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