Defibrillator unveiled at Houlton primary school

The defibrillator is now in place at St Gabriel's School. Pictured are: headteacher at St Gabriel’s School Andrew Taylor, Jamie's mum Naomi Issitt, Houlton's community development lead Sonia Nakra-Norman, Jamie's stepdad Jeremy Issitt and Jamie's nan, Karen.

This latest installation by the OurJay Foundation has seen it work with Urban and Civic, the overall developer of Houlton.

The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is situated outside St Gabriel’s Primary School and is accessible 24/7.

The foundation was set up in memory of 18-year-old Jamie Rees, who died in hospital on January 5 this year, following a cardiac arrest in the early hours of New Year’s Day while out with his friends in Hillmorton.

Urban and Civic made a donation of £1,250 for the new device.

The foundation aims to raise awareness of the importance of CPR and public access defibrillators, fundraise to install defibrillators across Rugby and Warwickshire – and to provide accessible training in CPR and the use of AED, all in Jamie’s name.

Urban and Civic’s donation will also be put towards a second defibrillator to be installed at Houlton.

Jamie’s mum, Naomi Issitt, said: “We’re committed to installing more AEDs across the development, in our ongoing mission to making Rugby ‘heart safe’.

“OurJay Foundation are proud to work alongside Urban and Civic in purchasing and installing this vital piece of life saving equipment for the Houlton community. We look forward to working with them again soon. 

“We continue to fight for changes across Warwickshire to make our communities ‘heart safe’ in memory of our precious boy.”

OurJay Foundation will be hosting a CPR/AED training event for the community at The Barn, Houlton on Friday, January 20.

The event has been set up to help the community learn more about defibrillators and what to do if you come across someone in cardiac arrest.

For more on the foundation, visit: www.ourjay.org.uk

In an interview with the Advertiser last month, Naomi said: ““We are working closely with local government organisations, community groups and business organisations to get these vital accessible defibrillators into as many publicly accessible sites as possible.”

She said cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, any time at any age. With a defibrillator available within eight minutes, it can increase the chance of a person’s survival by up to 70 per cent.

Naomi added: “We keep going for our boy.”