On October 4th, Diane Henare‘s husband Sandy suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of the night. Although his family searched for an accessible AED using the AED Locations app, the nearest one was too far away to be of any help. Diane and her family desperately administered CPR until the ambulance arrived, 30 minutes later. Unfortunately, they were unable to resuscitate Sandy who sadly passed away.
He was 54 years old.
“Our community is devastated with the loss of my dad, as he touched the lives of many of them. I hope an AED in the community could give another family a better chance of survival for their loved one,” wrote Sandy’s daughter Kylie in her entry to win an AED.
Kylie applied for the AED for their hometown of Mowhanau Beach, Kai Iwi, a small seaside community of approximately 300 people located 20 minutes north of Whanganui. Diane also entered the Heart Saver campaign after seeing our Become a Heart Saver campaign featured on Seven Sharp.
The AED will be located at the Rapanui/ Mowhanau Community Centre so that it’s accessible to everyone in the area. Diane and her family have purchased a Heart Saver lockable cabinet and donated it to the community in Sandy’s honour, meaning an AED is available 24/7.
Sandy’s other daughter Casey said, “I know sadly it’s too late for our Dad but it gives me and my family great comfort knowing that we can give and have this resource available to us and our community so that maybe just maybe if someone’s in need of it then it could maybe make all the difference in saving a loved one’s life. Thank you to the wonderful people of Heart Saver – we are truly grateful.”
“We truly hope it will never be needed, however we now have peace of mind that there is an AED close by if it is ever needed in an emergency” said Diane.
Heart Saver, Cigna and GrownUps are pleased to donate an AED 7000 to the Mowhanau Beach community.
