Eleven-year-old Eastbourne girl is crowned winner of life-saving competition

An 11-year-old Eastbourne girl has been crowned the winner of a life-saving competition.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Jul 2018, 16:15 BST
Updated 19th Jul 2018, 16:33 BST
April's winning picture delighted the judgesApril's winning picture delighted the judges
April's winning picture delighted the judges

April Filsell won the Eastbourne Heart Beat Campaign’s PAD SNAP – a photo competition to raise awareness of all the public access defibrillators (PADs) available in town.

April delighted the judges with her heartwarming photo taken next to the defibrillator outside Polegate Town Hall.

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She can be seen smiling and holding a homemade heart-shaped poster which says, ‘Protecting the heart of our community’.

April with her mum Kali being presented the £50 Prezzo prize By Alec of Eastbourne LionsApril with her mum Kali being presented the £50 Prezzo prize By Alec of Eastbourne Lions
April with her mum Kali being presented the £50 Prezzo prize By Alec of Eastbourne Lions

The Eastbourne Heart Beat Campaign’s aim is to raise awareness of using defibrillators and first aid and it has launched more than 50 PADs across Eastbourne.

April’s mum Kali said, “I think this campaign is very important for the community – I didn’t realise there was so many in all these different places.

“I work in Hampden Park Sports Centre, a lady died a few years ago and ever since that day we got one in there.

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“I didn’t realise how many defibrillators were available until I heard about the campaign, and saw the map.

The winning photo sent in by AprilThe winning photo sent in by April
The winning photo sent in by April

“This is a good idea of making people aware that they are there.”

Councillor Alan Shuttleworth, chair of the Eastbourne Defibrillator Partnership, said, “The Heart Beat Campaign has been a great success in providing so many new PADs.

“We will now focus on raising awareness of the use of CPR alongside confidence in use of defibrillators to save lives.”

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After presenting Kali and April with their £50 Prezzo food and drinks voucher Alec Stephens said, “This competition brings to an end only the first phase of our initial push for PADs in the Eastbourne area, we will continue to encourage more organisations and communities to purchase this life-saving equipment for themselves but now we turn our attention to using the defibrillator when required in an extreme emergency.”

To view a map with all the public access defibrillators available across Eastbourne, click here.

Read more:

Daughter saves mother’s life by performing vital first aid

Free first aid sessions in Eastbourne

Community buzzed as new lifesaving machine goes live