Rugby family present another life-saving defibrillator in memory of their son who died suddenly aged 18

The presentation took place at Ashlawn School on Monday.

Jamie Rees suffered an unexplained cardiac arrest on New Year’s Day and, despite the heroic efforts of friends performing CPR, he died in hospital on January 5.

His family launched a fundraising drive in his honour and have just presented their sixth defibrilltor, this time to Ashlawn School.

The installation is the sixth of 12 planned in Rugby, together the family and Rugby councillor Simon Ward are hoping to install the life-saving equipment at every secondary school in the town.

Jamie was loved by everyone who knew him .

Jamie, a student at Rugby College, was spending time with his friends in Hillmorton when, without warning, he suffered a cardiac arrest.

He was 18.

Jamie’s mum, Naomi Rees-Issitt, said: “Every single accessible defibrillator is so, so important to us, but this one was the first we planned after losing our boy, as it was to be located at Ashlawn – Jamie’s school.

"This would have been in reaching distance for Jamie’s friends, had it been there on that awful night.”She said the previous internal defibrillator located at Ashlawn could not be accessed in the middle of the night or during school holidays.

"One of Jamie’s best friends, Nathan, was at the presentation, which meant the absolute world to us all,” Naomi added.

The mum, along with other family members and friends, has helped raise many thousands of pounds in memory of her son.

She hopes it will save another family the heartache of the loss she has suffered.

Naomi paid tribute to Jamie.

She said: “Jamie, we are so unbelievably proud of you, every single second of every single day. You have no idea what you mean to so many people and you will be our absolute hero and inspiration forever. Our precious boy.”

The equipment is now fully accessible and is also registered with The Circuit (dial 999 or 112 for pin code acces).“This defibrillator had a number of extra issues with installation,” added Naomi.

"Thankfully, with the help of some amazing heroes, we got there and this life saving piece of equipment is now accessible in time for the long school holidays,”

Jamie’s family would like to thank the following:Top Marks ElectricalGround work: Dan BoultFabricator/welder: JD Fabrication James DaviesLinsey Green from Ashlawn School and Siobhan Evans, Head of Ashlawn.Councillor Simon Ward and London Hearts