MP unveils lifesaving equipment for residents
Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson has unveiled a new life-saving neighbourhood defibrillator for residents to use.
The equipment has been installed, in Showell Circus, in Low Hill, between News Express and Low Hill Supermarket, following a charity campaign to get one for the area.
Charities and voluntary groups including the Henry Angell-James Memorial Trust, Low Hill Streetwatch and Wulfruna Lifesavers worked in partnership to get the Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Ms Stevenson said: “I was delighted to officially unveil the new public access defibrillator on Showell Circus following a successful campaign by local voluntary groups. This will be a very important asset for the community, as we know that having defibrillators close by at times of urgent need can literally save lives.
“I would particularly like to thank Low Hill Street Watch, Wulfruna Lifesavers and the Henry Angell-James Memorial Trust for their efforts to secure this new defibrillator for Low Hill. It is registered on the national defibrillator network too, so that emergency services can easily locate it if needed, and I very much hope to see public access defibrillators rolled out to more areas across Wolverhampton.”
Sally Angell-James, chairwoman of the Henry Angell-James Memorial Trust, said: “The trust was set up because my husband Henry suffered a fatal cardiac arrest four years ago.
"No one can comprehend the shock of a policeman coming to your door telling you the terrible news and in some small way if we can help save another family from that we will have done a good job in his name. He believed in supporting small local charities and that the simplest ideas are the best, and this is the trust’s philosophy.”
The machine was unveiled at an event also attended by Bushbury South and Low Hill ward representative Councillor Ian Brookfield, West Midlands Ambulance Service community response manager Andy Jeynes, chairman of Wulfruna Lifesavers Adrian McDowell and the Bushbury Neighbourhood Policing Team.
Henry Angell-James, died aged 54, after suffering a cardiac arrest on his regular train journey home from Birmingham to Shrewsbury in October 2017. His memorial trust is working in partnership with the ambulance service to install AEDs in the region and provide free training to communities.
