Nottingham woman's hockey club cardiac arrest prompts fundraiser

Molly Chatwin suffered a cardiac arrest while playing hockey in Nottingham

A 23-year-old woman who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing hockey is raising money for a defibrillator to be installed at a youth club.

Molly Chatwin was revived after she collapsed at the Beeston Hockey Club in Nottinghamshire in January.

The sports enthusiast is now raising money for a defibrillator to be located at Monty Hind Youth Club in Nottingham.

Her mother, Michaela Chatwin-White, said the club's defibrillator had saved her life.

Ms Chatwin, who has Global Development Delay (GDD), was playing hockey on 8 January when she collapsed and stopped breathing.

A volunteer, who was a trainee medical student, started CPR until paramedics arrived and used the defibrillator at the club to treat her.

Her mother said she was in "complete shock" when her daughter collapsed.

Lisa Barker (left) with Molly Chatwin (centre) and her mum, Michaela (right)

"I just felt I couldn't function," she said.

"It just felt like I was almost living in a parallel universe. I just remember I kept saying just please don't let her die."

Her mother said she felt "lucky" the collapse happened at the sports club, within metres of a defibrillator.

"If it had happened anywhere else then it could have been a completely different scenario," she said.

"I just think if it had happened at home I know it'd have been a completely different story. It wouldn't have been fundraising for a defibrillator, it would have been fundraising for a funeral."

Ms Chatwin has since been fitted with an internal defibrillator and is expected to be back at her sports clubs in about six weeks.

'Amazing' defibrillator donation

The family is now raising money to pay for a defibrillator at the Monty Hind Youth Club, where Ms Chatwin attends a number of evening sports sessions.

Lisa Barker, chief executive of Nottingham's Clubs for Young People, which own the centre, said: "When I first went to see her at the hospital, I wasn't sure she was going to make it if I'm honest.

"We didn't have a defibrillator but we will have this time next week through the fundraiser which is amazing because what happened to Molly could happen to any person."

The fundraiser has already gathered £1,980, which will pay for a defibrillator to be installed in the coming days.