Life-saving device donated to running club after member collapses at event

Amy Smith

Published: 4:35 PM January 19, 2018 Updated: 8:09 PM October 10, 2020

ECCH chief executive Jonathan Williams hands the defibrillator to Bungay Black Dog’s chairman Robin Ashe with Alice Kirk (second from right), with running club members and ECCH staff. Picture: Courtesy of ECCH. - Credit: Archant

A new defibrillator has been donated to a running club after one of its members collapsed at an event.

The life-saving device was donated to Bungay Black Dog Running Club by East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH).

The club had already been planning to purchase one of the machines, and after the emergency incident it highlighted the importance of having a defibrillator available to use.

Ladies’ captain Alice Kirk, who works for ECCH’s health and safety team, decided to ask if the organisation had any spare defibrillators the club could buy. And to the club’s delight, ECCH offered to donate the device to them instead.

Robin Ashe, chairman of Bungay Black Dog Running Club, said: “We are very grateful to East Coast Community Healthcare for giving us this defibrillator. It was very traumatic when one of our runners was in an emergency situation, from which thankfully they recovered, and it’s very reassuring to know we now have this potentially life-saving piece of equipment to hand should we ever need it.”

You may also want to watch:

Jonathan Williams, chief executive of ECCH, said: “We are only too happy to have been able to help the running club in this way.

“As an organisation we are committed to promoting health and wellbeing and, as a social enterprise, one of our aims is to benefit the local community so this seemed like a very appropriate way in which to do both those things. We hope the club never needs to use it but we’re glad they can have peace of mind that the equipment is there if the need arises.”