LIFE-SAVING equipment has been installed alongside a hockey pitch in memory of father of two Mat Hodge.
Mat died suddenly last September from a cardiac arrest aged just 43, leaving his wife Georgina and sons Jamon and Jonty.
Mat was a member of Knutsford Hockey Club, and more than £14,000 has been raised in his memory for a heart screening session and Knutsford Community First Responder Trust.
Georgina and Mat with their sons
With Georgina’s blessing some of the money has been spent on providing an external Community Public Accessible Defibrillator.
The equipment has been installed at Knutsford Academy, next to the artificial pitch where Knutsford Hockey Club play their home games and where the club’s teams train.
The defibrillator bears a plaque in memory of Mat, and it is hoped to install a defibrillator at Sainsbury’s in Knutsford, also in memory of Mat.
The equipment would be the first in the town centre, and would be located within view of CCTV coverage.
First Responder Trust chairman Sal Thompson said the defibrillator at Knutsford Academy was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to everyone who used the adjacent artificial pitch and the nearby community.
Jamon and Jonty with trust chairman Sal Thompson
Sal said: “It’s nice to remember Mat in this way, and everyone who lives close to this unit is invited to attend one of KCFRT’s free monthly Heartstart courses to learn basic life-saving skills and how to use a defibrillator.”
These can be booked via the trust’s website at kcfrt.org.uk
Georgina said: "The boys and I are delighted to see the new defibrillator positioned on the wall of the school that Jamon now attends, opposite the pitch where Mat played hockey every week and where the boys now do their hockey training.
"Mat would be very proud of what we have all come together to achieve and the potential difference this will make to the lives of people in the surrounding area.
"It is made even more special due to the poignancy of the defibrillator’s location and the link to Mat’s love of hockey.
"A huge thanks to everyone for their incredible support and generosity and to the KCFRT for making it all happen."
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