On the 17th of December, we very suddenly and unexpectedly lost our dear friend and colleague, Alison. Alison experienced a traumatic cardiac event whilst shopping near home with a companion. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the paramedics, staff at the Co-op, and also her friends, Alison sadly passed away.

There are more than 80,000 hospital heart attack admissions in England every year. The overall survival rate for people experiencing a heart attack is seven in 10 and this increases to nine in 10 for those who come forward for early hospital treatment.

With this in mind, we believe that it is all the more important to have a defibrillator onsite. Therefore, 708 will be embarking upon a range of fundraising activities to raise sufficient funds to purchase our own defibrillator in memory of Alison.

Feel free to make donations at any point, and if you would like to suggest any fundraising activities, please speak to Kate.

In the interim, please familiarise yourselves with the below; it could save someone's life.

Symptoms of a heart attack can include:

chest pain – a sensation of pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across the chest

pain in other parts of the body – it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms (usually the left arm is affected, but it can affect both arms), jaw, neck, back and tummy (abdomen)

feeling lightheaded or dizzy

sweating

shortness of breath

feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting)

an overwhelming sense of anxiety (similar to having a panic attack)

coughing or wheezing

Although the chest pain is often severe, some people may only experience minor pain, similar to indigestion. While the most common symptom of a heart attack in both men and women is chest pain, women are more likely to experience other symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.