'A defibrillator could have saved my son's life'

Sam Polledri was a keen rugby player who died in February

The parents of a keen rugby player who had a fatal heart attack have raised money to install a defibrillator close to where he died.

Sam Polledri, 24, had a heart attack at Millennium Square, in Bristol. It is thought he might have survived if a defibrillator had reached him in time.

Five defibrillators were located in the area at the time but none were accessible to members of the public.

"He was a beautiful boy who should still be here," his mother Louise said.

The installation of the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) means that members of the public have a better chance of helping a person suffering from a heart attack in the area.

The new defibrillator is metres away from the site where he died and his parents, Louise and Peter Polledri, hope it might save someone else's life.

Louise Polledri wants to raise awareness about the lack of public access to defibrillators

"Sam was beautiful, he loved life, so happy and caring, he would have loved to have still been here, but he isn't," Ms Polledri said.

"We are just hoping this might give another person the chance to survive."

His brother Jake is a professional rugby player who has signed a new deal with Gloucester, and both men were fit and active.

Mr Polledri's family are fundraising with the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity for more defibrillators to be placed around the city.

A CPR and defibrillator awareness event took place on Friday to celebrate the installation of the new defibrillator.

Passers-by had the opportunity to learn how to do CPR and use a defibrillator

"Although Sam received CPR, it just wasn't enough," Ms Polledri said.

She said if there had been a publicly accessible defibrillator in the place they have since installed one, her son's survival chances would have increased by 74% if it had been used on him within three to five minutes of the heart attack.

"We need more outdoor defibrillators around to save lives," she added.

The new defibrillator has been installed near Millennium Square

Anna Perry, chief executive of Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, also attended the awareness event.

"So many defibrillators are not publicly accessible, and people don't know where they are and how to get to them," she said.

Mr and Ms Polledri aim to increase the number of public access defibrillators so that everyone is within a three minute walk of one, at any given time.

"We don't want other families to experience this devastation," she added.