A NEWPORT mum’s campaign to install a defibrillator in her local community has smashed its target.

Kate Inwood was hoping to raise £1,325, in an effort to get the life saving equipment installed in the Jubilee Park area of Rogerstone.

And, just hours after sharing her incredible story of heart failure survival with the Argus, that target has been met.

According to Gofundme’s website, £595, around 45 per cent of the total goal, was raised in the last day, reaching the intended goal.

That total is the amount needed for Welsh Hearts to install a defibrillator device on an external wall of Jubilee Park Primary School, allowing anyone in the local community access to use it, if ever it is needed.

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Speaking to the Argus after the target was met, Ms Inwood said: “It’s thanks to you guys that the appeal went stratospheric.

“It wouldn’t have gotten there so quickly without it.

“I’m ecstatic, and so proud of the local community.”

The campaign to install a defibrillator at the school has been a personal one for Ms Inwood, as she lives her everyday life with a built-in defibrillator inside her – having gone into heart failure just three months after giving birth to her son, 10 years ago.

But, for anyone without a fitted device, going into cardiac arrest is often fatal – and so much more so when a defibrillator isn’t available.

It is estimated that survival rates drop from 70 per cent to just seven per cent when a person in cardiac arrest does not have a defibrillator used on them.

With the money raised going to Welsh Hearts, the plan is to install the device in a cabinet outside Jubilee Park Primary School – as this is a reasonably central location within the local community, and accessible at all times.

The school itself has played a part in raising awareness around the subject, with teachers here previously undergoing CPR training.

What’s more, the school is also raising money for the charity by encouraging pupils to wear red on the final day before the summer break, and by installing a love lock fence – allowing pupils to pay £1 for a lock, which they can then write the name of a loved one on.

Ms Inwood said: “There’s a few people and companies that I’d like to thank for their efforts.

“Staff at the school as well, and my local community councillor. The whole community has come together.

“There’s an old adage that every little helps – but it really does.”