A FUNDRAISING appeal started by an upper dale woman in memory of her father has reached £50,000 and helped install 20 lifesaving machines in rural areas.
Gillian Hutchinson, who farms near Middleton-in-Teesdale, started the fundraising campaign to buy defibrillators after her dad, David Nelson, died of a heart attack in January 2015.
At the time there were no defibrillators where he lived in Weardale.
Mrs Hutchinson said: “He took ill just after Christmas and he thought it was just indigestion.”
An ambulance was called when the family realised he was having a heart attack but it took 40 minutes to arrive.
His daughter said: “We don’t know if a defibrillator would have saved his life, but it certainly would have given him a fighting chance.”
Mr Nelson, who when not working as a self-employed builder enjoyed fishing and organising competitions for his leek club, died at the age of 61.
In setting up an appeal to raise cash for defibrillators, Mrs Hutchinson asked advice from Middleton-in-Teesdale resident Nigel Mitchell, whose family started the Stephen Mitchell Memorial Fund in memory of their brother who also died of a heart attack. The fund has helped install a number of heart start machines in upper Teesdale.
Ms Hutchinson and her “partner in crime” sister-in-law Allison Nelson were staggered by the response when they launched their appeal, even before a major fundraising event that would see six people zipwire across the River Tyne.
Mrs Hutchinson said: “By then we already had enough [cash] for six machines.”
The appeal would go on to install 20 machines as well as replace an old machine used by Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team.
Now not only does the appeal fund new machines, but also covers their maintenance.
Mrs Hutchinson said: “We change the pads either if they are used, or every two and-a-half-years because they are made of silicon. Over the past year we have replaced, I think, 12 sets of pads and batteries.”
The pair keep track of the maintenance programme through a series of spreadsheets, and are helped by a “guardian” in each of the villages who keep their eyes on the kit on a regular basis.
Of the success of the appeal over the past six years Mrs Huthinson said: “It’s just amazing. Never in a month of Sundays did we think we would achieve that.”
The machines have saved at least one life in Weardale and several more have been accessed and on standby while people have waited for ambulances to arrive, Mrs Hutchinson said.
Visit https://www.face
book.com/groups/1051310114885362/?ref=share
