400th defibrillator installed in memory of Rugby teenager
OurJay Foundation marks milestone with two new devices at Coventry Building Society Arena
A Warwickshire charity has reached a major milestone in its campaign to make life-saving defibrillators more accessible, with its 400th public device now installed.
The OurJay Foundation has marked the occasion by donating two automated external defibrillators at Coventry Building Society Arena, where they are available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The charity was set up in memory of Rugby teenager Jamie Rees, who was just 18 when he went into cardiac arrest on New Year’s Day 2022. At the time, a defibrillator was locked behind a school door and could not be accessed.
The experience prompted Jamie’s family to campaign for more publicly accessible defibrillators, with the foundation now having installed 400 across the country.
The foundation says its defibrillators have already helped save 31 lives that it knows of. It is also aware of two further lives being saved by devices it funded for use in police vehicles.
Naomi Rees-Issitt, Jamie's mum and chair of OurJay Foundation, said: "Jamie loved his football, so having a defibrillator here at the CBS Arena means such a lot to us.
“We've already been able to do this in Coventry for music, at the Empire, and for ice skating, at the Skydome, so this feels like it completes something for our family as well as for the city.
"Reaching 400 defibrillators is a big milestone and to do it at a major stadium for the first time feels really fitting. We'd love this to be the first of many stadiums."
The two latest devices are positioned at opposite ends of Coventry Building Society Arena and can be accessed during football matches, concerts and other major events.
The two new devices bring the total number of defibrillators at the arena to 19, giving visitors and the wider community greater access to potentially life-saving equipment.
Paul Michael, Managing Director at Coventry Building Society Arena, said: "Every second matters in a cardiac arrest and by having publicly accessible defibrillators available at both ends of the stadium will give people a vital head start.
“The defibrillators are available 24/7 and will be particularly important for us during major event days, be that a sell-out Coventry City fixture, capacity stadium bowl concert or major national conference and exhibition.
“It's been great working with the team at the foundation. They've done incredible work across this city in recent years and we’re proud to have been the location for the 400th installation.”