'I owe my life to a defibrillator - and Joe Biden'

Graham Sharpe was in Windsor on the day of former President Joe Biden's visit to the town, when he had a cardiac arrest

Graham Sharpe says he owes his life to a defibrillator - and a former US president.

The 65-year-old from Harrow was cycling in Windsor when the then President Joe Biden was meeting the King in the town on 10 July 2023.

"I became very dizzy and I collapsed. I didn't know it then, but I'd had a cardiac arrest," Mr Sharpe said. "Fortunately, because Joe Biden was in town, there were lots of police around to do CPR and there was an armed response vehicle with a defibrillator in it.

"All of that was on me within a couple of minutes and that's the reason why I'm here now."

Mr Sharpe was helped with a defibrillator that was in an armed response vehicle

Police officers and an off-duty paramedic carried out CPR on Mr Sharpe. Once at hospital, tests revealed that two of his arteries were severely narrowed, one at 20%, one at 30%, and he underwent double coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

London fares worse than any other UK region for the rate of publicly accessible defibrillators per head of population, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said.

There are over 110,000 public access defibrillators registered on The Circuit - the national defibrillator network.

The then President Joe Biden visited King Charles on 10 July 2023 in Windsor

London has 7,043 defibrillators registered on The Circuit, representing 7.9 machines per 10,000 people.

The worst places within London include Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing and Hackney.

Mr Sharpe underwent double coronary artery bypass graft surgery

There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK, but less than one in 10 people survive, The BHF said.

Sam Kennard, community defibrillator manager at the BHF said: "Every defibrillator holds the power to help save someone's life and is crucial in the chain of survival during a cardiac arrest.

"We've made progress but there are still some areas without any defibrillators at all, and these are among our most deprived communities.

"We're encouraging community groups to come forward and apply for a British Heart Foundation-funded defibrillator to give their loved ones the very best chance of survival."