Defibrillator finally gets installed at Nature Trail Nursery

Lawyer Amie Harrison, 29, whose daughter Ava attends the Nature Trail Railway Nursery in Euxton started campaigning for the defibrillator in October by setting up a GoFundMe page which surpassed her original target of £1,500 (the cost of a defibrillator) to £1,545 in a matter of days. In another twist of kind fate she was then informed by the North West Ambulance Service that they would donate and fit one for free.

Ava, who is cared for in the baby room of the nursery, was born with a heart condition known as SVT – Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) - an arrhythmia or rapid heartbeat which lay undetected for six months.

She is now under the care of Manchester Children’s Hospital Cardiology team.

An ecstatic Amie said: "The total raised was £1,925 which will be split between Preston Birth Suite, North West Ambulance and Manchester's Children's Hospital."

Whilst Ava's condition is now managed by daily medication and under the care of Manchester Children’s Hospital Cardiology team, Amie believes that every school should be fitted with a defibrillator.

“I personally think venues over a certain capacity should be made to buy one.

“The reality is that a cardiac arrest could affect each and every one of us. Less than one in 10 will survive one that occurs outside of a hospital setting.

“If CPR is performed that person’s chance of survival doubles. If a defibrillator is used that person’s chance of survival triples.

“Specific training is not a necessity for using one and it can also be used by the public.”

Expressing her gratitude to all those who helped get the defibrillator, she said: “I would like to thank the North West Ambulance Service and the community as a whole.

Jessica McKnight, the nursery manager for Nature Trail Railway, added: "Yes we are all fully installed and registered online for the public to use.

"We are absolutely delighted to now have a defibrillator installed on the nursery for our use and also public use! "We cannot thank everyone enough for their kind donations towards the charities and NWAS for the donation of the defibrillator, also Nature Trails head office for supplying the defibrillator case and electrical instillation.

"We feel very proud as a setting to be supporting such wonderful charities."