DE LA SALLE COLLEGE have been gifted a defibrillator by parent Martina McConville. The life-saving device will be kept at their new sports facility at Glassmullan.
Martina is an active campaigner on the importance of learning CPR and set up the Defibs4Kids NI campaign which aims to raise awareness of the need for defibrillators in schools.
Speaking to belfastmedia.com, she said: “I set up a campaign when Eoghan was in primary five as he has severe heart disease. The aim of the campaign was to create awareness around CPR and defibrillators in schools.
“We lobbied the government and schools were able to get defibrillators at a lower cost. I then set out to encourage every school to have one.
“My boys would all be quite prominent in sport and I think that it is important that this is something that can also benefit the community and I hope to train as many within the community as I can on how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.”
Thanking Martina for gifting the defibrillator, Principal Claire White added: “The school is very grateful for this generous gift from Mrs McConville and her family. It will be stored here at the Glassmullan site which is now open and will be used by our boys and we hope that we will be able to open it to the wider community very soon.
“This defibrillator will help save lives and forms part of our wider wellbeing strategy and it is a very generous gift which we really appreciate.”
