Defibrillators bought with funds raised from South Shields Surf Club are now available to the public

South Shields Surf Club set out to raise enough money for one defibrillator after one of their members, Nancy Arthur, suffered a heart attack while surfing at Sandhaven Beach in May this year.

Thankfully, Nancy made a full recovery from her heart attack and encouraged the installation of the life saving equipment across Sandhaven Beach.

Following a successful fundraising campaign, which included a £1,000 donation from an anonymous donor simply known as “Red”, the club had enough for three.

The first defibrillator was installed outside the The Sand Dancer Beach Bar in September and as of December 23, all of them are in place.

The second is temporarily located inside Quasars reception desk at Ocean Beach Pleasure Park and will soon be located opposite the skate park in an external box, with the third being behind a 24/7 reception desk at the Little Haven Hotel.

Committee member Aaron Kinghorn has thanked everyone who got behind the fundraising campaign which exceeded the club’s expectations.

He said: “It wasn’t something that we really thought about until Nancy had her cardiac episode in the sea and it was then that we realised that there were no defibrillators near by.

"The fact that the fundraising went really well meant that we realised we had more money that what we needed so it was decided to go for a second.

“So having three of them is all credit to the people of South Shields who are just magnificent – it is so great to see everyone looking out for each other.

"We can’t thank “Red” enough for the anonymous donation, Emma Choudhury from Ocean Beach Pleasure Park who helped facilitate the location inside the fair and Michael from the Little Haven Hotel.”

South Shields Surf Club has over 70 members, offering weekly training sessions, surf trips, beach BBQs and often takes part in beach litter picks while South Shields Surf School offers lessons to surfers of all abilities.

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