TRAINING was given to students at Oakdale Comprehensive School last week in how to use a defibrillator and provide cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The Welsh Hearts charity visited the former school of Jack Thomas, who died suddenly at the age of 15 in February 2012. His family are yet to find out what exactly caused his death, but believe it to be associated with a possible arrhythmia.

The Argus has since teamed up with his parents, June and Grant Thomas, to launch Jack’s Appeal, a campaign to get defibrillators, which cost around £1,000 each, into every secondary school in Gwent and the Rhymney Valley.

It is backed by Welsh Hearts, who taught more than 100 pupils at Oakdale Comprehensive techniques such as CPR, choking management and how to use a defibrillator safely.

Its voluntary Saving Lives in Welsh Schools campaign brings doctors, nurses and paramedics into Welsh schools to teach these potentially life-saving skills. They have now taught more than 2,000 students.

Dr Gareth Roberts, medical lead for Welsh Hearts, said: “These skills are simple to learn and are taught by experienced health care professionals. We are empowering the students into being able to respond to a medical emergency should they be faced with one. The skills they learn could potentially help save someone’s life.”

Chris David, head teacher at the school, said: “I think the whole idea is an amazing one which is raising awareness for schools and communities.

“Mr and Mrs Thomas, because of the loss of Jack, are heavily involved and their dedication is fantastic.

“It’s wonderful that the Thomas’ are flagging up the issue of getting defibrillators into schools and the training is very useful. If any other school wants to discuss what we’ve been through, we’ve always got an open door. It was horrendous what happened with Jack, but with this we hope it can become something positive.”

Meanwhile, a Jack’s Appeal presentation given at a medical conference in Newport last month has been given an award.

Mrs Thomas and Newport nurse practitioner Phil Hill attended Aneurin Bevan Health Board (ABUHB) headquarters last week to receive a £250 donation for their winning presentation at the annual ABUHB Nursing Conference.

Denise Llewellyn, director of nursing at ABUHB, presented them with the prize money for their video ‘Remembering Jack’, which was presented at the recent conference, titled ‘The People Factor’.

So far, Jack’s Appeal has provided 11 schools with defibrillators.

Mr Hill said: “Since the award the people including health board staff have been so supportive and are coming up with lots of fundraising events they want to do for the appeal.”

A new website, entitled ‘Remembering Jack’, has now been launched to make it even easier for people to become involved or donate. Visit www.rememberingjack.co.uk

If your school would like to know more about the free CPR courses run by Welsh Hearts, call charity director Sharon Owen on 02920 786521 or email sharon@welshhearts.org