Sunderland: MBE couple offer King a defibrillator for palace

The King awarded Sergio and Emma Petrucci their MBEs at Buckingham Palace

A couple who co-founded a charity for heart conditions have said they offered the King a defibrillator for Buckingham Palace after he awarded them MBEs.

Sergio and Emma Petrucci, from Sunderland, were honoured for services to health and the community.

They set up the Red Sky Foundation after their daughter underwent life-saving heart surgery in 2015.

Mr Petrucci thanked their fund-raisers, adding: "I guess they have a little piece of this medal too."

The charity raises funds for the Children's Heart Unit at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital and other NHS hospitals in the North East, as well as providing defibrillators for schools and public spaces around the country.

The couple found out they had been awarded an MBE in King Charles III's first birthday honours, in June.

The Sunderland couple set up the Red Sky Foundation, which has raised over £1m

Mr Petrucci said: "[I am] really, really proud and emotional as well, because there's a lot of hard work that's gone into setting the Red Sky Foundation up.

"We've had people who have cycled, run races, fundraised and supported us from the beginning - I guess they have a little piece of this medal too."

The honour recognises services to health and to the community in north-east England

Mr Petrucci said the King spoke with them at length and was "so interested" in the work the charity had done to help babies and children, before he started talking about their work with defibrillators.

"[The King] was particularly keen to talk about rural areas and the countryside, and how we would work to put them into telephone boxes which is great. So that's one thing we can start working on," he said.

"I offered him a complimentary defibrillator for the palace, so we're going to write to the master of the house afterwards.

"He's given us a prize, we'll give him a present."

The couple and their children, Luna and Enzo

Mr Petrucci said that Red Sky had just donated 100 defibrillators worth more than £100,000 to grassroots sports teams across the UK, and the charity had raised over £1m to date.

"That's all we ever wanted to do - to give back and say thank you to the teams that fixed our little girl's heart."