Heartwize charity inspires Foxes’ first teamers to buy life-saving equipment for the community

Leicester City’s first-team players have purchased life-saving equipment to support the work of a charity established by two cardiologists from the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust.

The Premier League stars donated the money to buy automated external defibrillators to be placed where most needed in the community, in collaboration with Heartwize, which is a nominated charity of the Foxes’ Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation that was set up in memory of the club’s former chairman.

Determined to cut the number of people dying from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, Professor William Toff and Dr Doug Skehan established Heartwize in 2014.

Their aim was to ensure that every school leaver in Leicestershire and Rutland has received training in how to recognise and respond to a cardiac arrest – and to provide every secondary school in the county with a defibrillator.

A decade on, Heartwize’s army of volunteers has delivered CPR training to over 60,000 school pupils and provided a defibrillator and a training defibrillator to every secondary in the county. Heartwize now also provides training in businesses and in the wider community.

The Heartwize team recently delivered vital life-saving skills training to members of Leicester’s first-team and academy players as part of its work alongside the VS Foundation.

Inspired by the training and recognising the importance of swift intervention in the event of a cardiac arrest, the players made a collective decision to fund new defibrillators to support the charity’s ongoing work in the region.

The donation from the players, with guidance from Heartwize, will see the defibrillators located at various community settings across Leicestershire, to ensure more people have access to this critical life-saving equipment in case of an out-of hospital cardiac arrest.

City’s Portuguese international full-back Ricardo Pereira, said: “As a squad we’ve been so impressed with what we’ve all learned from Heartwize, understanding the importance of CPR training and fast access to defibrillators. It can make all the difference in saving someone’s life.

“As footballers, we’re fortunate that help in an emergency – with medical staff and equipment – is often very close by, especially in stadiums or at the training ground.

“With more training and defibrillators across our communities, we can hopefully give more people a better chance of survival.”

Professor Toff said: “We are incredibly grateful to Leicester City’s players for this generous donation. Every second counts in a cardiac arrest, and these defibrillators will make a real impact in our mission to improve survival rates across Leicestershire.

“The support provided by the players and by the VS Foundation will help us continue delivering CPR education and ensuring defibrillators are available where they’re needed most.”

Leicester’s home fixture against Brentford, on Friday 21 February, saw the Foxes support Heartwize, with players wearing promotional T-shirts in the warm-up, and supporters given the opportunity to donate, speak directly with Heartwize volunteers about the importance of CPR, and learn more about how this training can save lives.

You can still donate via the charity hotline by texting CPR, plus the amount you wish to donate, to 70460. For example, to donate £5 text CPR 5 To 70460.