BEXTON Pre-School has a new defibrillator thanks to a Knutsford mum and the town’s First Responders.

In April 2008, Nicolas and Lyn Young, of Blackhill Lane in Knutsford, were celebrating the arrival of their baby boy Joel.

Their joy was soon replaced with worry when at six weeks, they discovered he had a life-threatening heart condition.

He was diagnosed with a severe stenosis of his aortic valve, which means that the valve that controls the flow of oxygen rich blood into the aorta, was abnormally narrow, so he wasn’t able to pump blood around his body as he needed, leaving him breathless and weak.

He first had surgery in March 2009, at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital, to open up his valve but he will have to undergo open heart surgery to have his valve replaced when he’s older.

During Joel’s stay in hospital the family met children who had heart issues, whose lives were saved because a defibrillator was nearby.

So the family started to collect money to buy one for Bexton Pre-school as Joel started there this September.

Lyn said: “When we came home, we looked around at where defibrillators are in Knutsford and surrounding areas and noticed that apart from the Knutsford Leisure Centre, there were no defibrillators near any of the schools.

“I spoke to Janet Weston, the pre-school manager, about this and she contacted First Responders with a letter, explaining about Joel and a week or so later, phoned me to say that First Responders had been able to provide one.

“A defibrillator suitable for use on children and adults costs approximately £1,500, but this is nothing when compared to what it can save – a child’s life.

“First Responders had some money that was given to them from fundraising at Bexton School by the children in Years Five and Six, and they’d kept it, waiting for an ideal way to use it. When they received the letter, they decided they would use the money and fund the remainder themselves.”

On Friday, Knutsford First Responders ran a training session for the Bexton Pre-School staff to show them how to use the defibrillator.

Lyn has decided to continue raising funds for the First Responders as it is her objective to get defibrillators into every school in Knutsford and surrounding areas.

Her first fundraising event will be a Christmas shopping bonanza, at Toft Cricket Club, on Thursday, November 25, from 7.30pm, where there will be lots of stalls selling Christmas gifts, cards, jewellery and cakes.

Anyone who would like to support Lyn in her efforts to protect children’s lives or would like to attend her fundraising event, can send donations to the secretary, Knutsford Community First Responders Trust, 24 Queensway, Knutsford, WA16 0NN.