A charity walk is set to be held in Potters Bar to raise money for a family-led charity in memory of 18-year-old who sadly died from a cardiac arrest.
Cooperscroft Care Home is partnering with Defibrillators in a Public Place charity (DiPPs).
DiPPs will host a 5K charity walk to raise money to place life-saving defibrillators in communities.
The walk will be held on Sunday, March 5, from 11am to 1pm in Coopers Lane Road.
There is a £5 entrance fee with all proceeds going to the DiPPs charity.
DiPPs has been set up by Welwyn Garden City residents Arline Hursey, David Hursey and Jude Temple to remember Arline and David's son James, 18, who died unexpectedly in 2015.
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The family said: “That terrible loss left us searching for reasons why and in time led us to understand the shocking scale of people who die as a result of sudden cardiac arrest.
"We thought that we were the only family to have ever been struck by such a tragedy.
“Such an unexpected and inexplicable death must surely be unheard of.
“When we lifted our heads above the parapet, we were horrified to discover that we were far from being alone.
“Approximately 12 young people under the age of 35 will die without warning in the UK each week.
“The sudden adult death charity SADs believes that in excess of 30,000 people will suffer a cardiac arrest in a public place in the UK each year.”
Research has led the family to understand that CPR and specifically defibrillators save lives and yet provision in public places is "woefully inadequate".
The family added: "Defibrillators save lives. We are all able to operate one, even with no prior training."
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DiPPs will be calling upon schools and business, sports clubs and music venues, parks and shopping centres to provide a public access defibrillator and help to protect their children, their workforce, and their community.
Arline will be here at Cooperscroft on Friday, February 22, between 2pm and 3pm to demonstrate how to operate a defibrillator.
A spokesperson for Cooperscroft said: “Please come along and support the charity walk as the more people who join us the more impact we will have.”
To find out more more about the walk, go to dipps4james.co.uk/
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