Three years ago, catering tutor Stuart Davies collapsed after suffering a heart attack at Ystrad Mynach’s Coleg y Cymoedd campus.
Mr Davies collapsed at the Scholars restaurant, where the Tommy Cooper Society were holding their annual Tommy Cooper birthday lunch, which, coincidentally, is held to raise money for potentially life-saving heart defibrillators.
What is a defibrillator?
Defibrillators can be used to help someone experiencing a heart attack or cardiac arrest.
Currently, there are 6,188 public access defibrillators in Wales registered with the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust and the Circuit – which is a national defibrillator network.
Defibrillators usually cost around £1,300.
Every year, around 6,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest in Wales.
Someone experiencing a cardiac arrest will collapse suddenly. They will be unconscious and unresponsive.
Their breathing will also be affected, with some people not breathing at all during a cardiac arrest.
A cardiac arrest often happens without warning.
Without immediate treatment or medical attention, someone experiencing a cardiac arrest will die.
A patient’s chance of surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest decreases by an estimated 10% with every passing minute.
If you see someone having a cardiac arrest, call 999 immediately and start performing CPR on them.
During the EURO 2020 football match between Denmark and Finland in June, Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed to the floor after suffering a cardiac arrest.
He was swiftly treated on the pitch with a defibrillator – which saved his life.
A defibrillator locator can be accessed through the MAS app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Thankfully, Mr Davies, who was 51-years-old at the time, made a full recovery and returned to work.
On March 18, 2022 – exactly three years after Mr Davies’ heart attack – the Tommy Cooper Society returned to Scholars restaurant for their annual meal – celebrating what would have been the 101st birthday of the late Caerphilly-born comedian.
There, the society, as part of its Tommy’s Ticker campaign, presented a heart defibrillator to Scholars.
Where have defibrillators been fitted?
- Caerphilly Library (fitted April 15, 2014)
- Caerphilly Visitors Centre (April 15,2014)
- Blackwood Miners’ Institute (July 16, 2015)
- Bedwas Workmen’s Hall (August 11, 2015)
- Rudry Parish Hall (November 19, 2015)
- Caerphilly Castle (December 1, 2015)
- Aber Valley YMCA (September 30, 2016)
- Caerphilly Workmen’s Hall (October 9, 2016)
- Vanguard Centre (October 17, 2017)
- St Martin’s Church (December 1, 2017)
- Penallta Runners (May 26, 2018)
- Caerphilly Miners’ Centre (September 15, 2018)
- Llanbradach Community Centre (November 3, 2019)
- Scholars Restaurant (March 18, 2022)
“It came suddenly,” Mr Davies told Caerphilly Observer. “I was actually serving the comedian Eddie Large and then went back into the kitchen, where it happened.
“It brings to life how important fundraising for defibrillators is and the students are now encouraged to have CPR training.”
He continued: “It’s great to have the Tommy Cooper Society back after lockdown. Their visit is one of the big dates on our calendar and it’s always a milestone for me now.
“Even if the defibrillator only saves one life, it’s a wonderful thing. We feel a lot safer.”
Tudor Jones MBE, chairman of the Tommy Cooper Society, said: “It’s a great pleasure to give this defibrillator to Scholars because they’ve been so good to us over the last 18 years we’ve been coming here.
“The work Stuart does with young people and helping them develop is great to see.
“Thankfully Stuart is right as rain now, but for him to have a heart attack at a defibrillator fundraising event was a strange irony.”
Mr Jones continued: “The Tommy’s Ticker campaign is not just about raising money but raising awareness too.”
Attending the lunch was Sharon Owen, founder and director of charity Calon Hearts, which works with the Tommy Cooper Society to provide defibrillators.
Ms Owen said: “Defibrillators should be everywhere and they should be mandatory. But we’re so pleased we’ve been able to provide a defibrillator to Scholars.”
Ms Owen recalled watching Tommy Cooper’s death live on television back in 1984, when the comedian collapsed on stage during a performance after suffering a heart attack aged 64. Many people watching at the time thought it was part of his act.
The Tommy Cooper Society
The Tommy Cooper Society was founded in the comic’s memory in 2003, with the intention of raising funds to erect a statue of Cooper in Caerphilly town centre.
The late Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen councillor Angus Donaldson first raised the idea of a statue dedicated to Cooper in 2002.
He posted fliers around the town centre, advertising a meeting about the statue. From there, the Tommy Cooper Society was founded.
A few years later, the funds were raised and the society contacted the late sculptor James Done, who would go on to design the statue.
Six years after the statue’s unveiling, the society launched its Tommy’s Ticker campaign in 2014 to mark the 30th anniversary of Cooper’s death. The aim of the campaign is to raise money for heart defibrillators, which are then installed across the Caerphilly basin and further afield.
Every year, the society holds a birthday lunch in Cooper’s memory at the Scholars restaurant at Coleg y Cymoedd’s Ystrad Mynach campus.
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