A WELSH heart charity which backed Jack's Appeal, a campaign to fit every secondary school in Gwent with a life-saving defibrillator, is celebrating its second birthday this week.

Charity Welsh Hearts, which was founded in 2013, have trained over 7736 people in CPR and have placed 215 defibrillators across communities in Wales.

Last year the charity teamed up with Jack's Appeal, a campaign in memory of Oakdale teenager Jack Thomas who died suddenly three years ago.

Jack, who stood at a towering 6ft 3in, had no previous health issues and was competing towards the Taekwondo European Championships at the time of his death. He was 15-years old-when he died suddenly at his girlfriend’s house in Newbridge in February 2012.

The appeal, led by Jack's parents June and Grant Thomas and the Argus, aimed to get a defibrillator into every secondary school in Gwent and the Rhymney Valley. In April this year it succeeded, having raised more than £32,500 in just over a year.

The charity, which was founded by Sharon Owen, now works to improve the chances of those that have cardiac arrests outside of hospital.

In Wales there are approximately 8000 sudden cardiac arrests outside hospital each year, but the survival rate is just three per cent. Where a defibrillator is used, the survival rate is 50 per cent.

To mark their second birthday, the charity is now launching the 'Every Second Counts Appeal', an appeal to get 500 defibrillators into Wales’ capital Cardiff.

Sharon Owen, founder and director of the charity, had worked in the charity sector for over 15 years and felt that more needed to be done in Wales to tackle heart disease.

Ms Owen, who herself was born with a heart murmur, said: "We have come a long way in a short space of time! Huge thanks to people who have supported us in these two years, including our wonderful volunteers and the medical community who have supported us voluntarily but we still have a lot to do.

"We are proud as a charity that every penny raised in Wales stays in Wales!"