A father whose tragic son died during a school swimming race has won a 10-year battle to install defibrillators in all schools.
Education Secretary Nadim Zahawi today gave the commitment on the life-saving kit to Mark King in a meeting also attended by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.
It comes nearly a year after the Mirror’s drive for defibrillators in public places, including schools.
Mark’s crusade to save lives was inspired by son Oliver, 12, who died from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome in 2011.
The hidden heart condition kills 12 young people in the UK every week.
Celebrating the landmark win, Mark, 59, told the Mirror: “This is Oliver’s legacy. An unbelievable amount of lives will be saved in his name.
“Oliver went to school that day happy to go to school and to see his mates. He never came home that night.
“It’s hard to deal with but this is the best way to deal with it – channelling your energy into doing something good. I am overwhelmed by what’s happened.
“I have got the same feeling I felt when Oliver was born. That’s what we’ve fought for with tenacity over
the past 10 years.”
Defibrillators were not on-site to help Oliver but were used to save Denmark star Christian Eriksen, 30, who had a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. He recovered to join Brentford this year.
After the death of his son in Liverpool, Mark set up the Oliver King Foundation.
It has installed 6,000 defibrillators, with 4,500 in schools, saving 60 lives.
Mark believes the new Government rollout could be done in a year, adding: “Having a defibrillator in every school will make sure families don’t have to go through the experience my family went through when we lost Oliver.”
Sky Sports’ Carragher supported the campaign after Mark installed a defibrillator at his boxing gym.
Also joined by Lord Polak at the meeting, he said he was delighted for the dad and everyone who helped him.
Carragher added: “His passion and enthusiasm to keep fighting for this to be mandatory in schools – with the thought of his son in the back of his mind – has driven him on.
“He had so many obstacles put in his way but he never gave up.”
