Heartstart Farnham Lions has celebrated ten years of teaching CPR skills to the public – and is now appealing for more people to sign up for its free life-saving skills sessions.

Heartstart was formed in 2012 by Keith Aston and Jo Michaelides, who first met when Jo stopped and gave Keith CPR on the street in Farnham after he had a cardiac arrest.

After around 15 minutes help arrived, and Keith was taken to hospital where he made a full recovery.

Keith and Jo were reunited some months later and were both profoundly affected by the experience, and particularly by the number of people at the scene before Jo stopped, who had not known what to do.

They resolved to ensure others had the second chance Keith was given and teach CPR in their local community.

With some assistance from Peter Glover from the South East Coast Ambulance Service, the British Heart Foundation and the Lions Club of Farnham, Heartstart Farnham Lions was formed.

Since its formation ten years ago, Heartstart Farnham Lions has grown from small beginnings with a few trainers to a thriving scheme which fills its twice-monthly classes and takes training out to community groups and schools.

A grand total of 1,534 people have undertaken the formal training to date and the scheme has run additional sessions at carnivals, in pubs, at care homes, in local halls and in a wide range of community settings and schools.

Jo and Keith have been passionate advocates for teaching the skills to save a life and have spoken on local radio and television and been featured in regional and national magazines.

Keith died from a stroke in 2018, but his legacy and work lives on, and the team gains a huge amount of satisfaction from the lives that have been saved over the years as a result.

Four members of the team have themselves given life-saving aid, and in 2017 a trainee used her CPR skills to resuscitate her seven-year-old son after he choked.

Recently team trainer Peter Glover gave CPR to his friend David Gaunt at his 40th birthday party.

David, and his wife Amanda, attended the ten-year celebration, making an inspiring speech about the importance of knowing what to do in an emergency and thanking the team for all their work.

Scheme manager Jo Michaelides said: “I am incredibly proud of Heartstart and of all we have achieved in the last ten years. There are people alive in the community today directly as a result of the training, and there can be no greater validation than this.

“Keith’s passion and inspiration has touched so many lives.

“I get a lot of credit for my role in his resuscitation, but he was the real community hero. Keith took his experience and used every single day of his life after that, to pay it forward and help others. I would encourage anyone to book on to a course and learn what to do. In Keith’s words, don’t be a bystander.”

There are still places on Heartstart’s class next week. For bookings and other upcoming dates see http://www.heartstartfarnhamlions.co.uk