The most common cause of sudden death in an athlete is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (hi-per-TRO-fic CAR- dee-oh-my-OP-a-thee) also called HCM.

HCM is a disease of the heart, with abnormal thickening of the heart muscle, which can cause serious heart rhythm problems and blockages to blood flow. If a defibrillator is used within the first minute of a cardiac arrest occurring, the survival rate for victims can be as high as 90%. For every minute that defibrillation is delayed however, the chance of survival decreases to 10%.

Occurrences of heart attacks in young athletes & young people appears to be increasing, but with having the defibrillator only yards from the football / cricket & stoopball pitches, this will give them a chance - hopefully we will never have to use it!

We would like to thank the FA Premier League who kindly donated this to us.

The defibrillator has been installed onto the outside wall of the Sports & Social Club & is available 24/7