Family raises money to install defibrillator in Fratton to honour daughter
After losing her daughter Holly to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, Joanne Herlock and her granddaughter raised funds to install a life-saving defibrillator in Fratton
A woman and her granddaughter have helped to install a defibrillator in Fratton’s Bridge Centre after the sudden death of her daughter in 2017.
Joanne Herlock lost her daughter Holly to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome nine years ago.
“She was only 25,” said Joanne. “She had a little girl who was six years old at the time.”
Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest, but it is not clear what the cause of the arrest was.
Joanne has raised her granddaughter ever since, and both decided to do something to help prevent SADS-realted deaths.
“Me and my granddaughter decided to set up a charity for her to raise money for a defibrillator in Fratton,” said Joanne. “We asked local businesses to donate prizes which we then raffled off to raise money for the defibrillator.”
A public use defibrillator, an AED, is designed for use by members of the public with no medical training. It analyses the heart rhythm automatically, decides whether a shock is needed, and delivers it, talking the user through every step via audio instructions. Using a defibrillator alongside CPR gives someone in cardiac arrest the best chances of survival.
Joanne said: “I asked every single local business to donate and they donated every type of thing that you could think of!”
“It took us about four months to raise the money,” she said. “We just wanted to put that defibrillator in as soon as we could.”
In total, Joanne and her granddaughter raised £1600, and gave the money to SADS UK who bought and installed the defibrillator. Above the machine is a plaque with Holly’s name on it to commemorate her.
“The problem is it is very hard getting somebody to say they will have it because they have got to maintain it,” said Joanne. “But the Bridge Center said yes. Everyone supported me.”
The duo now want to hold another raffle to raise enough money to install another defibrillator elsewhere.
“My daughter used to live in Fratton but she moved on after that to Fareham so we would like to put one there too,” said Joanne.
You can find out more about Joanne’s fundraising efforts on her JustGiving page here.