The Mayfield Recreational Association (MRA) now has a defibrillator next to the playing fields. The equipment could mean the difference between life and death to walkers and users of the MRA.
During the 2020 Euros, Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed with a cardiac arrest and only survived due to being resuscitated on the pitch. This led the Mayfield Football Club to realise that to keep players and others safe they needed a defibrillator. The team managers – Roger Wallis, Sam Howard, Dean Bowler, Rich Wild, Craig Drury, Jeff Stobbard, Karl Bond, Dan Tavinder – asked MRA Trustee Kim Wallis to organise acquiring one.
Kim liased with Andrew Taylor-Smith of the Mayfield and Ellastone First Responders, who agreed to obtain the life-saving equipment. Mayfield’s Mark Burford did an excellent job of installation. The costs were born by the MRA and First Responders.
Mayfield Football Club have five teams – Under-11s, Under-13s, Under-15s, Under-16s and Men’s.
Defibrillators work by giving a high-energy electric shock to someone who is in cardiac arrest. To use the defibrillator call 999 and the operator will give you a code to access the equipment. The units don’t require specialist training and deliver easy-to-follow voice prompts so they can be used by anyone at any time in the event an emergency.