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In June 2021, Sarah Williams faced every person’s worst nightmare when her mum had a major heart attack in front of her.

With no ambulances available, CPR was unfortunately not enough to save Ann Rudge, who passed away aged 77.

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer about the day, Sarah said: “It was an awful situation. Everything was a bit of a blur. I did my best but couldn’t bring her back.

“I didn’t know where my nearest defibrillator was. It’s not something you really think about until you need to use it, and by then it might be too late.”

Instead of asking for flowers at the funeral, Sarah decided to set-up a donation page to help raise money for a defibrillator, so that nobody else would have to go through what she and her family did.

“I was shocked to see how many people donated”, Sarah said. “We had the £1,600 needed for the kit and case, then it was just a job of finding somewhere to keep it”, she added.

It took a bit of time, but now the potentially life saving piece of equipment is housed on the wall of Penllwyn Millennium Community Centre in Pontllanfraith.

“There were a few bumps in the road, but it’s in place now and has already been used twice.”

You can find your nearest defibrillator via ‘Defib finder’.