Public access defibrillator installed in Northampton town centre in memory of hardworking food bank volunteer
A defibrillator, accessible to the public, has been fitted in Northampton town centre, in memory of a hardworking food bank volunteer, who died of a heart attack months before he was due to get married.
Lindsay Woodbridge died suddenly on January 21, last year while he was out walking with his fiance. The couple were in an isolated location, so Lindsay was, sadly, unable to be saved, with the amount of time it took emergency services to reach him.
The 63-year-old intermediate care team nurse was due to marry Sharon Glanister in May 2024, so Sharon wanted to put the money saved for the wedding to good use and see how she could help save others.
Lindsay had been volunteering in Northampton since 2018, feeding homeless and rough sleepers on the streets project. He then joined the team at Re:Store Northampton’s food bank team shortly after, and volunteered weekly for six years, including through Covid. Three years ago Sharon also joined the team.
A spokeswoman from Restore Northampton said: “Lindsay’s sudden death was an absolute tragedy, leaving behind his beloved sons, daughter and grandchildren, as well as the team at Restore who considered him family.”
Ken Willis, project lead at the food bank, contacted Our Jay Foundation, knowing they shared a passion to reduce risk of sudden loss through fitting defibrillators.
Sharon then made a generous donation in Lindsay’s honour to the foundation, who have now provided an accessible defibrillator and bleed kit at Re:Store’s centralised base. The defibrillator was unveiled on Wednesday (January 8), after Lee Ives from LIVES Electrical Northampton, gave their time to install the electrical supply for the defibrillator.
The Re:Store spokeswoman added: “Restore’s mission is to ‘bring communities to life through love and compassion’ and whilst this is usually through play sessions for vulnerable families, parenting courses and food bank provisions, it seemed a natural extension of blessing the community.
“This was highlighted again when early last year, a family who regularly accesses Re:Store Northampton came rushing through the door, a mother with her two year old son who was unconscious. On the phone to emergency services, the Restore team were advised to access a defibrillator, with the nearest being over 200 metres away, the recommended distance to save lives.
“At this time, the need for an accessible defibrillator was all the more acute, and Our Jay Foundation enabled this to happen.”
OurJay Foundation was set up after 18-year-old Jamie Rees died while watching fireworks in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2022. The teen had a cardiac arrest and an accessible defibrillator was not available nearby. Jamie was resuscitated when paramedics got to him, however due to the amount of time he waited, his brain was starved of oxygen for too long and his family had to say goodbye to him five days later.
Since then, Jamie’s mum Naomi Rees-Issitt, and his family, have campaigned for more accessible defibrillators.
Jamie’s mum, Naomi, said: “OurJay foundation are very proud to have supported the accessible defibrillator at Central Vineyard, Northampton.
“Community accessible defibrillators are vital and we are pleased to have helped another community become heart safer, in memory of our Jamie.
“As always, we hope this defibrillator is never needed, but we are relieved that it is there, if ever needed.
“OurJay have also donated a Bleed Control Kit, for this cabinet, this is also now accessible to the community via 999.”
The charity has now fitted 300 defibrillators nationally, with the majority around their home of Rugby.
The new device at Re:Store is the sixth in Northampton. It is registered to be used by the public in an emergency, and the smart electronic system guides the user how to use in an emergency with no training needed. The full address is: Central Vineyard Church, 42 Sheep Street, NN1 2LZ.
Naomi also appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (January 7) to talk about her campaign to get all police cars to carry a defibrillator. A police officer was first on the scene when Jamie suffered a cardiac arrest - as they often are - and if that officer had a defibrillator, Naomi says Jamie might still be here now.