A new defibrillator has been unveiled at a Texaco petrol station in Salford by the mum of a man who died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Georgina Morrison, who is the chair of a new community group Heart Heroes and lives in Walkden, described how her son Ben Morrison passed away aged 33 after going to the gym and suffering a cardiac arrest.
She described her son as healthy and “always at the gym” and believes that if there had been a defibrillator on site her son would still be alive today.
Georgina says the death of her son inspired her to form the community group, whose goal is to install defibrillators across the region.
Her son would have turned 40 this July, and she described how members of the family still struggle with their loss and how they have “not got over” losing Ben.
Photo by Hollie Smith.
After discussing various ideas to mark what would have been his 40th birthday, it was Georgina’s idea to use their loss to “try and save someone else’s life”. She decided to team up with Texaco after a customer collapsed at the site in Walkden to bring in a new defibrillator.
Heart Heroes teamed up with Little Hulton cricket team and raised money through a race night, which brought in enough money for the group to buy their first defibrillator.
Georgina’s initial goal was to get four defibrillators before Ben’s 40th, but she said the group will now easily achieve that.
When asked how her success made her feel, she said: “Amazing. It’s going to be sad when he turns 40 because you know you should be having a big celebration, but you have to turn it around and say, if we can save just one life…”
Treasurer for the group Morgan Stanley, 23, said that she got involved because she grew up with Georgina and explained that her family have had their own battles with heart complications. She described how her niece had recently undergone a heart transplant.
She said: “You don’t ever know when someone’s going to just drop down.”
Georgina has made sure that in the newly installed defibrillator in Walkden there are paediatric pads for both an adult and a child, as she said not all of the devices have both.
The group’s next plan is to buy and distribute blood control kits to be placed inside the defibrillator cabinets to help stem bleeding in emergencies such as deep cuts, acting as a ‘plug’ that could save somebody’s life.
Georgina is appealing for local businesses or groups to help sponsor the group’s cause, as she is currently trying to raise money through lottery funds and raffling donations over Easter.
Georgina said that she feels “touched” by all the people that her boys grew up with who came to support the cause following the unveiling of their first defibrillator.
She said: “The thing that is lovely about Little Hulton and Walkden is that two communities can come together.
“There’s a lot of people out there with no money but they’d give you their last pound. It’s so touching.”
