This is Oscar's Story.

Oscar is 14 years old and mad about mountain biking. On 28th November, we received a call that no one ever wants to hear. Oscar (usually completely fit and healthy) had been out on his usual Monday night bike ride and had collapsed and stopped breathing, his heart had also stopped. Due to the quick thinking of one incredible person there that night and a team effort of everyone else involved, they managed to perform CPR and get a defibrillator from the nearest village, which resulted in them saving Oscar's life. They managed to get Oscar's heart started again and he was rushed to Derriford Hospital, but he had not regained consciousness. When he got there, he was still in a critical condition and was transported to Bristol's Children's Hospital, where he was put in an induced coma and put onto life support. He remained in a coma for a few days but the team of amazing doctors and nurses slowly brought him out of his coma. We were worried sick whether Oscar would come off of life support ok, or whether he would be showing any signs of brain damage from the cardiac arrest.

Thankfully, Oscar has come back fighting fit and is starting to recover with no signs of damage. He arrived home from Bristol Hospital, on Christmas Eve, 3 days after undergoing open-heart surgery.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, one little machine, in the middle of nowhere, in a muddy car park on the moors, managed to save Oscar's life. We are so grateful to everyone involved in Oscar's treatment, but especially grateful that there was a defibrillator so close to where they were riding. Oscar would not be alive now if it wasn't for that defibrillator, so we want to get more into the local community.

Cornwall has so many rural areas that ambulances would struggle to get to in enough time to save someone's life, so it is vital that these machines are around. So we are fundraising for more!