A defibrillator once saved Andy Hannan’s life. Now, he is helping make sure the same lifesaving equipment is available to others.
Andy Hannan knows better than most just how important it is to have a defibrillator close at hand. The Exeter walking footballer suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while playing the sport he loves in 2020. He collapsed without warning and remained unconscious for several minutes.
Today, Andy is alive because a defibrillator was available when he needed it most, and now he has become an ambassador for the Red Sky Foundation’s ‘One in Every Corner’ campaign, which has seen four new public access defibrillators installed at St James Park thanks to the charity and the work of campaigner Paul Gregory.
The four devices, an investment of more than £8,000, are positioned around the stadium to ensure lifesaving equipment is readily accessible to supporters, staff and visitors should it ever be needed.
For Andy, the campaign has a very personal meaning: “I’m a walking footballer,” he explains.
“In 2020, I was playing in a series of games at Wonford Sports Centre. I played in two games and then refereed one. At the end of that game, I came down to look for another referee, and I was just walking along when, suddenly, I could feel myself falling.
“I fell headfirst into the turf and that was it. I wasn't conscious again until I was in the ambulance.”
Andy had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped and he was effectively dead for around five minutes. But crucially, the walking football club had a defibrillator.
Two years earlier, when Andy was chairman of the Exeter Strollers Walking Football Club, he had helped secure funding for the device from Devon County Council.
He could never have imagined that it would one day save his own life. “One of the centre managers ran out with it, and a fellow walking footballer, Sue Hutchings, applied chest compressions and CPR from the very beginning,” Andy says.
“That’s why I’m talking to you today. My life was saved.”
Sue’s quick actions, combined with the use of the defibrillator and the wider emergency response, gave Andy the chance to survive. The Royal Life Saving Society UK previously highlighted how Sue immediately began CPR before the defibrillator was applied.
Andy says the experience has changed his outlook on life: “I’ve got sort of extra time, which I’ve done some wonderful things with.
“I had no idea whatsoever that I was going to have a cardiac arrest. I was 69 then and a very fit 69. I played walking football a heck of a lot, including competitions.
“You don’t know you’re going to have a cardiac arrest. I felt nothing. I wasn't in pain. It was just bang.”
It is that experience which makes Andy such a powerful voice for the One in Every Corner campaign.
Red Sky Foundation’s initiative aims to place defibrillators in every corner of football stadiums and sporting venues across the UK, helping to ensure lifesaving equipment is available when every second counts. The campaign is being driven by Paul Gregory, known as ‘Tango’, in memory of his daughter Lauren Walker.
Four of the campaign’s defibrillators can now be found around St James Park, outside the club shop in the fan zone, by Gate 7, outside the main building on St James Road and by Gate 4 on Well Street.
For Andy, having them spread around the stadium is particularly important: “It’s important to have them nearby, if possible, because the chance of surviving without serious damage is much better if you get the defibrillator applied within the first three minutes.
“So not only is it important to have them, it’s important to have them nearby. Having one in each corner of this stadium is fabulous. That’s going to give a much better chance of meeting that target within three minutes.”
Andy also wants to remove some of the fear surrounding defibrillators. “They're not that difficult to use,” he says. “They tell you what to do. People fear them, but you needn't be. They basically save lives and they’re programmed to provide the information that’s needed to operate them correctly.”
The four new defibrillators at St James Park are part of a wider commitment to supporter safety, with Red Sky Foundation founder Dr Sergio Petrucci MBE highlighting the importance of having lifesaving equipment readily available in busy sporting venues.
And Andy believes the work of charities such as Red Sky Foundation, together with campaigners such as Paul Gregory, can make a genuine difference.
“The work of charities like Red Sky Foundation and the work of Paul Gregory, it's so crucial to save so many lives, isn't it?
“What a wonderful thing to do with the money. Charities like that are making the difference, because we can all see that defibrillators are much more in evidence now, and that’s due to the work of charities like that and people like that.”
For Andy, becoming an ambassador for the campaign is a chance to turn his own experience into something positive, helping encourage more people to understand the importance of defibrillators and CPR.
“I think it changed me, to be absolutely honest,” he says. “It certainly made me enjoy life more. I realise how lucky I am. I’m forever grateful to Sue, in particular, for what she did to save my life.”
And when it comes to the new equipment at St James Park, Andy has a simple message.
“It’s a very good investment. You’re going to save the lives of people like me. What could be better?"
To find out more about Red Sky Foundation, please click here.