In August 2018, Andy Read experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. At the time, he was working as Head of Safety at Places Leisure, an organisation that managed around 140 leisure centres.
Part of his role involved overseeing the rollout of defibrillators across the organisation. He never imagined that one of those devices would one day help save his own life.
When Andy collapsed, his wife immediately called 999 and his next-door neighbour stepped in to help. The emergency call led to a Community First Responder being dispatched with a defibrillator, alongside crews from the East of England Ambulance Service and the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
After receiving CPR and a defibrillator being used at the scene, Andy was airlifted to Basildon Cardiac Unit. He spent three and a half weeks in a coma before beginning a long recovery. The Community First Responder who attended Andy was Martin Richards, who had played a leading role in bringing defibrillators to Sudbury. Following Martin's death, his work continued through the creation of a local charity in his legacy, dedicated to improving access to lifesaving equipment.
Reflecting on his experience after leaving hospital, Andy was determined to help others. He often said he would have done anything to get another defibrillator into the community. That determination led to the launch of the Sudbury Defibrillator Campaign in 2019.
Working alongside Sudbury Town Council and local supporters, the campaign has helped establish more than 50 publicly accessible defibrillators across the town, all registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network. The long-term ambition is for everyone in Sudbury to be within two minutes of a defibrillator if they suffered a cardiac arrest.