The Morning Everything Changed

It started like any other January morning.

Sally was in the kitchen. Bruceter and Mike had been for their morning walk and was being his usual snuggly self. And Mike — her fit, healthy, active husband — was making his morning coffee.

Suddenly, he slumped over the kitchen counter.

Sally thought he was messing around. He wasn't.

Mike wasn't breathing.

What happened next is the reason you're reading this right now.

Sally's old training kicked in — she'd worked as a dental hygienist for years and had done yearly CPR training. She grabbed the phone, dialled 999, and started pushing on Mike's chest. Hard and fast. Counting compressions out loud, just like she'd been taught.

But here's the thing that still stops me in my tracks when I think about it.

The nearest defibrillator was over an 8-minute walk away.

Eight minutes.

Sally knew exactly where it was. She'd seen it before. But she also knew that leaving Mike — even for a minute — wasn't an option. She couldn't stop CPR, even knowing the one thing that might save his life was up the road.

So the defibrillator sat in its box, 8 minutes away, while Mike's heart was silent.

Luckily, the ambulance arrived quickly — they were close, and that mattered. The crew used their defibrillator on Mike. He needed five shocks before his heart restarted.

Five.

He was rushed to hospital for an emergency stent. And eventually, he came home.

The first thing Mike did when he got back? He built a raised flower bed in the garden. When I asked him why that was the first thing on his list, he just shrugged and laughed.

Some things you just can't explain. You're just glad you're here to do them.

What Mike and Sally Did Next Changed Their Whole Community

Mike and Sally didn't just survive this. They acted —

They rallied their neighbours, raised funds, and placed a defibrillator on the wall just up the road. One minute from their front door. Right next to the community green, accessible from the close and the beach. Registered on The Circuit so anyone can find it in an emergency.

Then they went further. They organised a community event — Tea and Defibs — and invited Project CPR to come and teach everyone how to use it. Families, neighbours, dog walkers. All learning CPR and how to use the new AED together, on the lawn, with a cup of tea in hand.

To date, Mike and Sally have inspired over 60 people to get trained — and two defibrillators now sit in their community where there were none before.

Here's What I Need You to Take From This

Mike was fit. He was healthy. He was in his own kitchen.

80% of cardiac arrests happen at home or at work.

A defibrillator doesn't replace CPR — Sally's compressions kept Mike's blood moving until help arrived. But a defibrillator can restart a heart. CPR alone usually can't. That day, Mike needed both — and one of them almost wasn't close enough.

That's why we talk about defibrillators. Not to scare you. But because knowing where your nearest one is, and knowing how to use it, could be the difference between someone coming home and someone not.

Let's make sure you know exactly what to do. 💙