Kind donation will save lives in busy Southsea street

KINDHEARTED residents have joined forces with a local business to fund the installation of a lifesaving defibrillator in memory of tehir friend.Â
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Jul 2018, 13:50 GMT
Updated 31st Aug 2018, 16:59 GMT
Residents have paid for a new defibrillator which has been installed on the wall of a shop in Castle Road, Southsea. (left to right), Paul Lombardi, shop owner Clive Padfield and Paul's wife, Marilyn.Residents have paid for a new defibrillator which has been installed on the wall of a shop in Castle Road, Southsea. (left to right), Paul Lombardi, shop owner Clive Padfield and Paul's wife, Marilyn.
Residents have paid for a new defibrillator which has been installed on the wall of a shop in Castle Road, Southsea. (left to right), Paul Lombardi, shop owner Clive Padfield and Paul's wife, Marilyn.

The device, which delivers a dose of electric current to the heart and can save the lives of people having heart attacks, was installed in Castle Road, Southsea, last week. 

Clive Padfield from Hillfield Trading, a store on Castle Road that sells an eclectic mix of items from start-up businesses, started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money for the defibrillator last year. 

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When the campaign failed to attract any attention - raising just £50 of the £2,000 needed - the scheme was shelved. 

Then when local residents Paul and Marilyn Lombardi were left some money when their friend Peggy Penman, from Duncan Road, died aged 91, they offered to pay for the machine. 

Paul, who has lived in Regent Place off Castle Road for 32 years, said: '˜Peggy left a lot of money to charity so she would be pleased to see what we have done. 

'˜She did have heart problems '“ and the shop that it is installed on is an art shop where she used to have art lessons.

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'˜If it saves a life then it is important. Hopefully it will never be used but if it is and it saves just one person, then that is great.' 

Clive, who has run the Southsea shop for the past six years and is part of the Castle Road Area Traders' Association, said he was pleased to finally see the device put in. 

He said: '˜The nearest officially registered device is in Milton. There are a few closer but they are not registered so if you rang 999 then they wouldn't be able to give you the code to the box. 

'˜We have been working to bring people to that area, we have four markets a year, and we are very close to the Common, it all fitted and we wanted to do something nice for the community. 

'˜Hopefully it will be money wasted as it will never need to be used.'  

Related topics:SouthseaCastle Road