Bracknell football pitch defib campaign after dad's collapse

Harri King's father, Doug, suffered a cardiac arrest during a football match on Sunday

The son of a man who survived a cardiac arrest while playing football is campaigning for all local sports pitches to have defibrillators.

Doug King collapsed during a match on Sunday in Bracknell.

Players administered CPR and used a nearby defibrillator - "remarkable" actions that saved his life, his son Harri said.

Doug's teammate Jack Davies has raised £2,500 to buy defibrillators for two other pitches in the area.

The Bracknell Sunday League football match had been going for 30 minutes when Doug collapsed on the pitch without a pulse, goalkeeper Mr Davies said.

Players, the referee, substitutes and spectators "united in a life-saving effort", Mr Davies said - administering chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while a defibrillator was fetched to the scene from less than 300m (1,000ft) away.

Harri said it felt "like a lifetime", but in reality a shock from the defibrillator was administered "within a minute or two" to his father.

"I'll remember it for a rest of my life," he added.

"That kit saved his life."

• Thousands to learn life-saving heart resuscitation

• Call for more equal access to public defibrillators

• Bereaved father calls for new defibrillators law

Fewer than one in 10 people who suffer cardiac arrests outside of hospital survive, according to the British Heart Foundation.

But the NHS said immediate CPR can quadruple someone's chances, and if the person is shocked with a defibrillator within five minutes their survival rate can be as high as 70%.

Harri said his father was now out of hospital and "on the road to recovery".

But he said doctors had told him "without a shock [from the defibrillator] things probably would have been very different".

Doug was taken to hospital in an air ambulance

Money from the fundraiser will be used to install defibrillators near Ringmead and Wildridings sports fields.

Mr Davies said Bracknell Forest Council had applied for funding for the devices, and if it was successful the money raised would go towards defibrillators for private football clubs.

Harri said: "It's about helping other people that use these areas, making sure they've got the same chances,"

The council has been approached for comment.

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