Life-saving device at Drayton park vandalised

VANDALS broke into a cabinet containing life-saving equipment, leaving a brick in its place.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Apr 2017, 06:00 BST
Updated 9th May 2017, 18:35 BST
The defibrillator at Fleur de Lys FC after it was vandalisedThe defibrillator at Fleur de Lys FC after it was vandalised
The defibrillator at Fleur de Lys FC after it was vandalised

The defibrillator – donated in memory of Roger Kilford – was pulled from the broken case and left on the floor at Drayton Park in Portsmouth.

Alan Parry, co-ordinator for Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent Community First Responders, was called to the broken equipment and will assess if the defibrillator can be used or will need to be replaced.

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He said: ‘These vandals do not understand how important this equipment is.

Roger Kilford, in whose memory the defibrillator was installedRoger Kilford, in whose memory the defibrillator was installed
Roger Kilford, in whose memory the defibrillator was installed

‘As a community first responder I get called out to a cardiac arrest around once a week and I don’t think these people realise what it is like.

‘It could be their brother or sister that needs that life-saving equipment.

‘This particular defibrillator was next to a park where children play football but they don’t seem to care.’

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Mr Parry said the locked cabinet was smashed and all the equipment inside was pulled out. A brick was then placed inside.

Alan Parry, co-ordinator for Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent community respondersAlan Parry, co-ordinator for Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent community responders
Alan Parry, co-ordinator for Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent community responders

He added: ‘I will have to check if the defibrillator can be used in future or if we need a new one.

‘We will also have to look at security around the cabinet – we don’t want to fix it and the vandals see that as a challenge to break into it again.’

The defibrillator was installed last year after Mr Kilford died unexpectedly in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

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The family of Mr Kilford, who lived near the park where football club Fleur De Lys play, raised £1,200 for the machine and cabinet.

The defibrillator at Fleur de LysThe defibrillator at Fleur de Lys
The defibrillator at Fleur de Lys

His family thought having the equipment at the team’s clubhouse would be a good way to honour him.

In 2015, The News launched its Heartbeat campaign which aimed to get more defibrillators installed in public places. Since the launch, businesses, community groups and councillors have supported the installation of more than 25 defibrillators across the area.

Every year more than 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest in the UK, and only one in 10 people survive. Research shows for every minute a person spends without CPR and defibrillation, their chances of survival drop by 10 per cent.

Defibrillators work by ‘shocking’ the heart back into action if someone goes into cardiac arrest.