On the 23rd of September, Dounreay officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary are ‘Cycling in the Straths’ for a wonderful cause.

Challenge:

Strathnaver Challenge – a 68-mile trip leaving Tongue towards Bettyhill, riders will then head inland through Strathnaver to Altnaharra, along Strathmore and back to Tongue.

Here’s why:

Rhianna Mackay, a 21 year old local girl, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, here is her story:

“On the 2nd of July I was rushed to hospital after I had a sudden cardiac arrest in my own home. I had no prior symptoms or illness, it all happened in a blink of an eye. I was lucky enough that my amazing mum was there in the room with me and was able to perform CPR and use her own defibrillator to resuscitate me. Without this I would not be here today. I was taken to Caithness general hospital and placed into an induced coma then flown by helmed to Raigmore ICU. After 14 hours I was showing good signs and was able to be taken off the sedation and woken up. I had no idea of what had happened and still remember nothing. I was there for 2 weeks where I had various scans and tests and was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome, which is an issue with the electrics of my heart. I was then transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where I had a subcutaneous Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) inserted, this is there to shock my heart if it tries to go into cardiac arrest again. Along with this, I will be on medication which slows my heart rate, for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately I missed my university graduation but celebrated while in hospital. 3 weeks post op I am healing well and trying to get used to my new normal.

If you ever get the opportunity to go on a first aid or basic life support course through work or organisations I would really urge you to go and learn so that you will be able to save a life.

In the very near future, my mum is teaming up with a charity called Lucky2Bhere. With their guidance mum will set up a team that will deliver CPR training for free throughout Caithness and Sutherland.”

Vikki Mackay, Rhianna’s mother, is going to be delivering CPR training with the help of Lucky2Bhere locally in Caithness and Sutherland. So, any volunteers who want to become trainers or participate in training would be greatly appreciated once this is set up!

Goal:

Our goal is to provide a Defibrillator to a local club in Caithness, which costs £2000. So, if we can raise that through the charity, they can provide us with that life saving equipment!

A little about the Lucky2Bhere Charity:

Lucky2Bhere was established in 2007 by Ross Cowie who had experienced a cardiac arrest and was lucky in that an ambulance was nearby on the evening of the arrest and was able to use lifesaving equipment in their possession. As a result of his experience he decided to raise funds to purchase a defibrillator for the Skye Camanachd Shinty Club in Portree.

We provide Defibrillators and other life saving equipment and deliver Emergency Life Support training in schools and throughout the community.

www.lucky2bhere.org

info@lucky2bhere.org

Lucky2Bhere Registered charity number: SC041103