Glenn Hoddle has announced his plans to work with the BHF following his cardiac arrest last October.
In an interview with the Sun, Glenn discussed his cardiac arrest publicly for the first time and used the opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of CPR and defibrillation.
Last October Glenn Hoddle suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after filming in the BT Sports studio. Sound engineer Simon Daniels quickly started to administer CPR and used the studio’s defibrillator on Glenn – quick actions which undoubtedly saved his life.
Speaking to the Sun, Glenn said:
“Thank God first-aider Simon was nearby and got to me so quickly. He performed chest compressions and fitted a defibrillator on my chest to keep me alive.
“It keeps hitting me in waves, how lucky I am despite everything. The stars were aligned in many, many different ways.
“I want to save lives with this campaign. I am going to be working with the British Heart Foundation to raise awareness of the project and to provide the equipment and training in the smallest and basic football clubs. None of us knows when we might need a defibrillator to save a life.
“Football has been my life and this is a way for me to be a positive force and give something back to the game that has treated me so well.”
How to save a life
There are over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, and shockingly less than 1 in 10 survive. When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, performing immediate CPR and using a defibrillator can more than double their chance of survival.
There are a few simple steps that anyone witnessing a cardiac arrest can take to give the person the best possible chance of surviving: calling 999, performing CPR, and using a PAD (public access defibrillator).
Follow these simple steps if you come across someone who is unconscious, or see someone collapse:
Step 1: Shake and shout
Step 2: Check for normal breathing
Step 3: Call 999
Step 4: Give 30 chest compressions
Step 5: Give two rescue breaths
Step 6: Repeat until an ambulance arrives
Remember – even if you haven’t been trained in CPR with rescue breathing, you can still use hands-only CPR.
Working together to save more lives
Glenn Hoddle and the BHF will be working together to raise awareness of CPR and defibrillation, and plan to place more defibrillators and CPR kits in grassroots football clubs. Charity Today was told more details about the partnership will be announced in the coming weeks.
Learn more about performing CPR and using a defibrillator in an emergency
