Neighbours who saved Brackley man's life take plunge to raise money for three defibrillators

Pictured from left to right: Karen Gomm, Jean Marc Agache and Jo Ahern who each jumped on Saturday to raise money for charity, Do It For Defib. Pictures: Kirsty Edmonds.

One Sunday morning, husband and wife duo Karen and David Gomm leaped to the aid of their neighbour, Paul Ahern, who was in cardiac arrest.

After they gave him CPR, the pair used a defibrilator which gave an electric shock to his heart and got it beating again.

The events which happened that Sunday morning inspired a team of three friends and neighbours to jump out of a plane at Hinton-In-The-Hedges Airfield on Saturday, which they self-funded.

Pictured top, left to right: Stuart Pickwick, Mark Jones, Karen Gomm, Jean Marc Agache, Jo Ahern, Cath Hawley, Jude Wait and bottom row, left to right: David Gomm, Tina Agache, Charlotte Pickwick and Paul Ahern.

The aim of the skydive was to raise thousands of pounds for other life-saving defibrillators in surrounding villages, which can be used without medical training.

Jean-Marc Agache was one of Paul's neighbours who jumped out of the plane on Saturday for charity, Do It For Defib.

He said if it wasn't for the quick response of his "special neighbours" that Sunday morning, then it might have been a different story for Paul.

Those neighbours who plunged 13,000ft were named 'Team Victory' after their street name, Victory Close, where they live in Brackley.

Paul's wife Jo and Karen Gomm also joined Jean-Marc.

The trio enjoyed free falling for 45 seconds before gliding through the air by parachute.The trio have so far raised £4,730 on JustGiving.

He said: "We all high-fived ourselves, it was the most amazing feeling. We had quite a few people up there who wanted to come and support us. That was really nice as they had a bit of an insight.

"People's generosity has been remarkable. We are keeping the JustGiving page open until October 31 because people are still donating.

"Cardiac arrest could happen to any of us. To be able to give back and hopefully save someone else's life is really rewarding."

Mr Ahern was at the airfield on Saturday watching on as his wife Jo took the leap.

He said: "My near-death experience did not involve bright tunnels or flashbacks or other worldly encounters with dead relatives or spiritual beings.

”Just the sudden dark of lost consciousness followed by the half-remembered haze and wondering why was I on the floor of my bedroom and why my neighbour was on my bed.

"Improving public awareness to cardiac arrests will help to save lives. Also, there is a need for public access to defibrillators that are now designed so that they can be used by people with no medical training."