'We are forever proud of Jamie': Rugby mum unveils 200th defibrillator in son's memory

Naomi Issitt set up an appeal to buy defibrillators after the death of her son Jamie.

Her 18-year-old son had a cardiac arrest in 2022 and later died in hospital.

The latest piece of life-saving equipment is now up and running in Dunchurch.

Naomi said: “When we first started raising funds just after we lost Jamie it was really only to buy one cabinet and get one accessible defibrillator.

"Suddenly, it just grew and grew. Then last October, we hit the 100 mark and this year we’ve hit another another 100.”

But Naomi has no plans of stopping her campaign and is on a mission to help save others from suffering the same heartache.

“We’ll just continue to campaign and we will just continue to try and spread that heart safety across the Midlands and all over the country if

we can,” she added.

“We are forever proud of Jamie and so so grateful to everyone who has supported us, not just with number 200, but with every single defibrillator that’s been purchased and installed in memory of our precious boy.”

She said she didn’t dare to dream her charity would be so successful.

“Not in a million years did I think we’d be installing our 200th defibrillator,” Naomi added.

“The priority is keeping Jamie’s memory alive and keeping his legacy going.”

“We’re just very proud that we’ve been able to raise enough funds and continue campaigning until we reached number 200.

"We’re not stopping. We’ll just carry on and hopefully we’ll be at 300 very soon.”

To find out more, visit OurJay Foundation on Facebook or https://www.ourjay.org.uk/

Sorcha Moore helped write this article for the Rugby Advertiser as part of her work experience placement. She’s a student at Rugby High School who wants to be a journalist.

Thanks to Ian Maxwell for providing the photographs.