The BCC club training session in April 2021 will live long in the memory of many members. It was on this warm evening at the Hollingbourne Ground, that the swift actions of many, supported by the important and successful administering of CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation), saved the life of David Patton, BCC Chairman (and now former player), who had suffered a unexpected and sudden cardiac arrest whilst batting.

David and his family are extremely thankful for all of the emergency services who attended, the healthcare professionals who treated him in the William Harvey Hospital and of course all of the Bearsted members who all rose to the occasion and to the Royal Humane Society for awarding a few of their number, Noel Johnston, Simon Barker and Piers Cottee-Jones, Resuscitation Certificates.

Having received and presented the certificates, David recently spoke to Andy Smith, Senior Reporter at the Kent Messenger, about the incident, the awards and the importance of CPR training (see photos or article online here).

This incident goes a long way to underlining how important it is to have as many people as possible first aid trained and that more efforts are made to make defibrillators immediately and easily accessible. Good CPR is key to mainitaining blood flow during episodes like this, but the survival rate after suffeing sudden cardiac arrest rises from 5% to 75% with a defibrilator. Aside from the amazing efforts of many, a lot of luck was on our side in helping David pull through and no one should have to rely on luck to survive.

David and Piers were also invited on to BBC Radio Kent to talk to Anna Cookson on Tuesday Morning (4th Jan) about the incident. You can listen again to the interview via our Facebook page here.