A father who was struck by lightning at a school sports day last year is campaigning for more defibrillators to be installed across Northern Ireland, particularly in primary schools.

The Belfast Telegraph reported on Geordie Allen’s story, who miraculously survived a lightning strike in 2016.

He had been attending a school sports day with two of his children, who were aged five and seven, when a sudden storm came in and he was struck by lightning. Both his children were injured in the strike, but he was in a coma for a month and lost parts of his memory when he first regained consciousness.

His wife Sharon explained that the staff at the school were amazing on the day and that the only reason he survived was because they had access to a defibrillator, which was installed at the school.

“If we didn’t have those defibrillators that day he wouldn’t be sitting here. I would have lost my husband and the kids would have lost their father,” she told the newspaper.

As a result, the couple are now starting a campaign for more defibrillators to be installed around Northern Ireland, in the hopes of saving more lives and helping other families avoid tragedy.

Belfast Live recently revealed that the pilot scheme to introduce more public-access defibrillators in the city is set to be extended.

The city council has received a substantial donation from the Murphy family, who have raised funds in memory of Mark Murphy, to provide a number of new AEDs throughout Belfast.

Have you considered running defibrillator training at your organisation? Contact one of our account managers to discuss how we can help.