Brighton Dome has accepted the donation of a new defibrillator to the Concert Hall. Mark Atwell gave the life-saving device in memory of his late father, Trevor Atwell who regularly attended concerts at the venue.
Trevor passed away at his home in Lancing in the autumn from an unexpected heart condition. Last year, he supported Lancing’s first publicly funded defibrillator in memory of his late wife, Peggy.
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome welcomed the donation from his son Mark, following his late father’s legacy of enabling emergency life-saving equipment to be available in public venues.
Remembering his father, Mr Attwell said:
“He was a friend of Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra and went to all of their concerts here at Brighton Dome, so we thought this was an appropriate place to have it located. My Mum had a history of heart problems and when she passed away, my father donated the defibrillator to Lancing and we wanted to do the same in his memory. He was fit as a fiddle and it was a shock that he died very suddenly at home from heart failure. If it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody and if there is no emergency help immediately available, it can reduce a person’s chance of survival.”
Terry Ayres, Chief Executive Officer, The Sussex Heart Charity said:
“Placing this equipment in busy places like Brighton Dome, means that anyone suffering a cardiac arrest in that location can be helped quickly and will improve their recovery rate. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Mark and his family and friends for supporting our work in this very special way.”
