On New Year’s Day 2022, 18-year-old Jamie Rees was at a friend’s house, watching fireworks and celebrating the new year, when he suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest. His friends called the ambulance and performed CPR on him in the meantime. They located the nearest defibrillator, which was not too far away, but it was locked away in a school. And police officer that was the first on the scene didn’t have a defibrillator with him. The ambulance did finally arrive, over 19 minutes later, but Jamie’s brain had been too starved of oxygen. He passed away a few days later in the hospital.
Naomi Issitt, Jamie’s mom, explains just how life saving defibrillators are. “If you reach a person in cardiac arrest in seven minutes the chances of getting his heart beating again is 70%.” She points out that many defibrillators are locked in buildings and adds, “You can’t pre-plan your cardiac arrest. Defibrillators that are locked in buildings are pretty pointless.”
On January 26, Issitt started a Just Giving fundraiser to install a 24/7 automated defibrillator at a local school in her son’s memory. There was a tremendous amount of support within the community. Only one day later, the family met double their goal. With around £3,000 (about $3,655) in hand, they decided to keep going.
Issitt soon founded a charity called OurJay Foundation, named after her Jay. Through fundraising efforts that included a bingo night, a raffle, horse races, selling wax melts, and more, the charity has raised over £50,000 (approximately $60,924) and has installed 22 defibrillators all over town, with 13 more on the way. “We can’t thank people enough,” says Issitt. “The support has been amazing.”
Jamie’s legacy doesn’t stop there, though. He had previously told his family he wanted to be an organ donor. To ensure they knew, he even signed up three times. And, as Issitt shares on Facebook, “On the 5th January as a result of Jamie’s truly selfless act of generosity, 5 people received an organ transplant from him.”
“We know Jamie is out there,” says Issitt. “He’s meant to be saving lives.”
You can keep up with the good work that OurJay Foundation is doing by going to their website. Scroll down to see some of the updates they have shared so far.
On New Year’s Day 2022, 18-year-old Jamie Rees suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest. He was not able to get a defibrillator in time, and he sadly passed away a few days later in the hospital.
Naomi Issitt, Jamie’s mom, explains just how life saving defibrillators are. “If you reach a person in cardiac arrest in seven minutes the chances of getting his heart beating again is 70%.”
The closest defibrillator to Jamie was locked away in a school. Issitt says, “You can’t pre-plan your cardiac arrest. Defibrillators that are locked in buildings are pretty pointless.”
On January 26, Issitt started a Just Giving fundraiser to install a 24/7 automated defibrillator at a local school in her son’s memory. There was a tremendous amount of support within the community.
Issitt soon founded a charity called OurJay Foundation, named after her Jay.
View this post on Instagram
Through fundraising efforts, the charity has raised over £50,000 ($60,924) and has installed 22 defibrillators all over town, with 13 more on the way.
Jamie’s legacy doesn’t stop there, though. Issitt shared that her son was an organ donor, and that five people received an organ transplant from him.
“We know Jamie is out there,” says Issitt. “He’s meant to be saving lives.”
OurJay Foundation: Website | Facebook | Instagram
h/t: [Good News Network]
Related Articles:
Heartwarming Video Shares Man’s Infectious Joy After Receiving His First Paycheck Ever
One-Eared Painting Dog Named Van Gogh Gets Adopted
Best Friends Win the Lottery, Decide to Spread the Wealth to Their Community
Actress Mila Kunis Has Raised $37 Million for Ukraine Since the Beginning of the War