Scottish Medical Charity Lucky2BHere placed their 1000th Public Access Defibrillator at PACE Theatre Company in Paisley at the weekend.
The Charity was founded by Ross Cowie in 2009 who suffered a cardiac arrest and was saved thanks to the quick response of a nearby ambulance crew. The Charity has trained tens of thousands of people in Emergency Life Support and visits Primary and Secondary school pupils across the country to teach the importance of defibrillators and good quality CPR.
The Charity has reached an amazing milestone from setting out to install one defibrillator in Ross’s hometown of Portree on the Isle of Skye, to now being the biggest provider of community defibrillators in the country, with voluntary training teams in place from Shetland down to the Borders.
The 1000th defibrillator was placed at PACE this weekend and was funded by police officer Kyle Reid who was impacted by a cardiac arrest he was involved with whilst on duty.
Kyle said ‘ In April last year (2023), I was involved in an incident at work, during which a male suffered a cardiac arrest. At the time I was lucky to be able to source a defib which saved the man’s life. After the event I felt I had to do something.
“I decided I would mix my love of golf, with my passion for fundraising and I managed to raise over £3,000 which I donated to Lucky2BHere who provided us with the life-saving equipment. I have family connections with PACE, including my wife who for many years attended the group. I am delighted the Defib is staying in Paisley.’
Team leader of the Glasgow training team Michelle Carr who got involved following another cardiac arrest experience said ‘ We are lucky to be a small part of this – what a fantastic achievement!’ Michelle and her team led the training this weekend at PACE.
Photo: J.J. Hayes, Jennifer MacGuire, Jenna Telfer and Elsie Balfour (PACE Front of House staff)
Charity founder Ross said ‘We set out to get one defib so to reach 1000 is crazy. Many lives have been saved and hopefully many more will be. My heartfelt thanks go to all the amazing people who have contributed on the journey.’
Colleen Lupton, Operations Manager for PACE said: “We were delighted to be chosen as recipients for this defibrillator, supplied and fitted by Lucky2BeHere, who do inspiring work in communities.
“We work with large numbers of young people and their families every week in our venue, as well as welcoming audiences into our theatre regularly, and the safety of anyone who uses our building is absolutely paramount to us. Thanks to our position in a shopping centre, it will also be easily accessible for anyone using the Paisley Centre who is in need.
“Our staff are first aid trained and qualified, but we know that in an emergency situation being able to quickly access this equipment could prove critical. We’re incredibly grateful to Kyle, and others like him, for his incredible fundraising efforts, which mean we now have access to this life-saving equipment.”