State-of-the-art lifesaving equipment installed in leisure facilities ...

The latest lifesaving equipment has been installed at five of North Yorkshire’s leisure facilities.

Defibrillators have been upgraded at Northallerton, Stokesley, Bedale and Thirsk leisure centres as well as the new Sowerby Sports Village near Thirsk.

New training equipment has also been provided as part of the £9,000 scheme to make sure staff have the skills to deal with any emergencies.

Over the past two years, leisure centre staff have provided critical response to three customers that suffered cardiac arrests and defibrillators were used the revive them.

One of them, 49-year-old Graham Brown from Bedale, says he owes his life to the quick thinking of the Bedale team.

Mr Brown said: “I was at Bedale Leisure Centre gym with my partner, Soraya, when I went into a sudden cardiac arrest – a visit which was to save my life.

My heart and breathing stopped just after centre staff got to me with a defibrillator and their quick thinking meant my heart was restarted quickly.

They had to work manually with CPR to get my breathing started again but they managed this before the ambulance crew arrived...

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