Heighington AFC Boys would like to say a very big, and appreciative ‘Thank You’ to a local family, the Gardiner’s, and their charity Madathlon for all the help and support we have received in the provision of a defibrillator within our playing fields facilities.
Their fundraising efforts and their charity alone mean we are able to house, and receive necessary training for this much needed piece of lifesaving equipment and for this, as a club, we are incredibly grateful.
The defibrillator is of course available for the wider community to use and anyone interested in knowing how to use this piece of equipment is invited to join us in Heighington Village Hall on 26th and 27th September at 12 noon when the Fire and Ambulance Service will be offering full training and answering questions.
The Madathlon event was born from an idea to raise £10,000 to purchase some much needed equipment for the ICU at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, in memory of Claire Gardiner, who passed away there very suddenly at the age of 30, in December 2012.
The event saw a group of Claire’s family and friends take on a series of challenges: the National Three Peaks Walk, followed by the Coast to Coast Cycle Ride and finishing with the Great North Swim, all over three consecutive weekends in June 2013.
Since then the charity was formed and named itself after the event which started it, to make ‘The Madathlon’ an annual challenge to help people and charities in our area. Madathlon also organise other fundraising events throughout the year.
Since the first event, the team have raised over £35,000 which has been used to supply lifesaving equipment in the local area. This year funds raised are being used to supply public access defibrillators, like the one recently installed at Heighington. These machines are the only treatment for cardiac arrest, which takes the lives of 250 people per day in the UK. Chances of survival increase from 5% to 70% if treatment can be given within a few minutes and many more deaths can be prevented by providing these lifesaving machines, which can also be used, without training, by anyone. It will not deliver a shock to a casualty unless it is needed.
We are always looking for sponsorship and volunteers to get involved in fundraising events; you can contact us at Madathlon@hotmail.com and via facebook.
