A hockey player who collapsed on the pitch believes a simple heart screening could have prevented his cardiac arrest and has hit out at criminals who are stealing and vandalising life-saving equipment.
Sam Russell was playing for Finchfield Hockey Club at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre in Perry Barr, Birmingham in February when, ten minutes into the match, his heart suddenly stopped.
His teammates noticed the 26-year-old standing motionless on the pitch before he collapsed, going into sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
As one of the players gave him CPR, others ran to get a defibrillator from the sports centre reception but no-one was available to give them access to the life-saving device.
After eventually finding a member of staff, Sam received one shock from the defibrillator, and three more once the ambulance service arrived seven minutes later to stabilise his heart on his way to Midlands Metropolitan Hospital.
Sam is now raising money to install more fixed location defibrillators, an appeal he launched while still recovering in hospital.
He said: “I don’t remember much from those couple days after, and I don’t remember setting up a GoFundMe.
“But a reason I wanted to do it is to get more fixed location defibrillators so if people are in the same situation as me, it’s far more accessible.”
Sam set up his GoFundMe page with a goal to raise £2,400 to cover the cost of two fixed-location defibrillators, but in just one day he raised over £4,000.
Three months later, he has received over £8000, to buy and install ten fixed-location defibrillators at local leisure centres, sports facilities and on remote running tracks.
London Hearts, the leading defibrillator charity in the UK, reached out to help Sam buy and distribute the defibrillators in his local community.
Six fixed-location AEDs will be installed at The Royal School Wolverhampton, Aldersley Leisure Village and Aston University Recreation, and Kingswinford Hockey Club will receive a portable AED.
As captain of Finchfield Hockey club, Sam’s team will also be given two portable AEDs to take with them to away games.
The player’s fundraising comes as a Sheffield Wire Freedom of Information request revealed 124 defibrillators had been vandalised or stolen in England in the past two years.
Sam said: “It makes me feel sick that we fundraise for defibrillators and know that people target them within 24 hours.
“If you value your life as much mine why would you want to do something that could take away the chance to save your own life.”
Before his incident, Sam had never had a heart screening, but in the days following his sudden cardiac arrest, he endured numerous heart tests, including an MRI, echocardiograms and angiograms.
He received the results in April, explaining that his incident was a result of myocarditis, an inflammation in the heart caused by a viral infection.
Sam recalled that he had a flu-like symptoms three weeks before his cardiac arrest, but carried on with his daily activities, including long runs and intense hockey training.
“In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done that if it was going to cause so many problems,” he said.
“When the consultant told me the results it was a lot of weight off my shoulders because there was no longer a question mark over what caused it.”
Dr William Parker, a NIH Clinical Lecturer in Cardiology, explained that SCAs are more common in young athletes because intense exercise and adrenaline can worsen undiagnosed conditions.
He said: “If you’ve got an underlying condition particularly in high profile and high stress settings can worsen it or lead to heart problems that cause cardiac arrest.”
The fixed-location defibrillators will have a sticker explaining Sam’s story and how the devices were funded, to raise awareness and thank those who have donated.
As well as defibrillators, Sam is campaigning for people to undergo The British Heart Foundation’s 15-minute online CPR training course.
