Published on 30th January 2017
The family of Oliver King, a 12-year-old boy who died from an undiagnosed heart condition while enjoying a swimming lesson back in 2011, has issued a call for defibrillators to be installed in every school around the UK.
Oliver died when his heart stopped during the lesson at King David High School in Liverpool, the BBC reports. And now – on what would have been his 18th birthday – his father Mark King has come out and said that lives must stop being lost in this way.
Speaking about his loss, Mr King said: “You can either draw your curtains, because nothing I say or do is going to bring Oliver back, or you can pull the curtains aside and say this has got to stop. These lives have got to stop being lost.”
Back in 2013, The Oliver King Foundation helped to bring about an amendment to government policy for schools, where they’re all recommended (although not obliged) to buy a defibrillator. Such devices from the Foundation have helped to save 11 lives in the last five years.
Heart attacks take place when the normal electrical rhythm of the heart is replaced by a more disorganised and chaotic one, known as ventricular fibrillation. Defibrillators work by sending out a high energy electric shock to restore the heart’s natural rhythm. They’re portable, easy to use and also come with prompts and commands so that even if you’ve never had any training you could still use one to save someone’s life.
If you are interested in finding out more about emergency defibrillators, however, get in touch with us today.