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Former Wanderers’ star Fabrice Muamba has backed a national defibrillator and CPR training scheme for grassroots football clubs.
Muamba made 147 appearances for the Whites but was forced to cut his playing career short after suffering a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup quarter final tie against Tottenham in March 2012.
At the time the 35-year-old said that the thought of returning to football was initially too “painful”, but he later turned to a career in coaching.
The popular life-saving campaign is funded and delivered by family-run heart charity Red Sky Foundation and rolled-out by Team Grassroots - the UK’s largest independent grassroots football organisation.
Fabrice said: “This message goes out to the grassroots football community.
“We all know the importance of having defibrillators, and that it could be the difference between life and death.
“We want to see more defibrillators available in grassroots football, and we fully support the grassroots defibrillator programme by Team Grassroots and Red Sky Foundation and encourage you and your football club to apply for the defibrillators throughout the scheme.”
As a result of Fabrice’s video supporting heart charity the scheme has opened to new applications this week.
Paul Kirton, Founder of Team Grassroots, said: “The demand for defibrillators at a grassroots level is testament to the awareness raised by the household names who have been affected, such as Fabrice Muamba and Christian Eriksen.
“The few clubs that could afford to buy one now have, and the various schemes have made many more available, but the fact that demand is still so high confirms the need for additional funding to get one in reach of every football player in the UK, at every level.
“In the meantime, the Red Sky Foundation’s incredibly generous donation will help 100 more clubs play with confidence and give them the peace of mind knowing that life-saving equipment can be made available and used correctly, should it be required.”
Successful applicants receive a free defibrillator and online CPR training for unlimited members of their club and community.
The mobile defibrillators can be taken to every location where the team plays or trains, improving access for all.
The Grassroots Defibrillator Programme, which is now in its third year, has funded over 300 defibrillators to date and has trained thousands of members across more than 100 grassroots clubs. This follows the Premier League’s national campaign which gave 2,000 grassroots sites access to a defibrillator back in 2021, amongst other campaigns.
Sergio Petrucci, Co-founder of Red Sky Foundation, said: “Our daughter, Luna, was given a second chance receiving specialist cardiac care when she needed it most and this is our way of helping others.
“Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone of any age and grassroots clubs’ budgets often don’t allow for this type of apparatus, so we are doing what we can to help clubs access one.
“Using early CPR and defibrillation on a person in sudden cardiac arrest can increase their chances of survival from seven percent to over 75 percent so it’s vital that every club possible in the UK has access to a defibrillator via the Grassroots Defibrillator Programme.”
All defibrillators allocated to clubs via the Grassroots Defibrillator Programme are delivered alongside a free life-saving CPR and defibrillator training sessions for as many people who wish to attend, courtesy of Red Sky Foundation.
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