A BALORNOCK butcher has launched a bid to save lives in the community he serves - by fundraising for a defibrillator.
Donnie Shaw and the North East community have reached their target to put the life-saving device outside his shop on Wallacewell Road.
Donnie, who took over the shop two years ago from the previous owner, also plans to pay tribute to a teenager who died locally by placing a plaque in his honour at the defibrillator.
He said: “People have only been willing to help because they think it is a great idea. Customers I have spoken to have also been sharing their stories and some have had a heart by-pass operation themselves.
“We have a good wee community here in Balornock.”
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He added: “The ironic thing about it is when I came into the shop to tell the staff what I was going to do, one of my apprentices said his pal died at 19 of a heart attack. He stays around the corner.
“So with the permission of his parents I am going to put a plaque underneath it I tribute to him.”
The defibrillator will cost £2,000 and will be outside Shaw the Butcher for the whole community to use. There will also be a camera fitted to the device for security purposes.
The money was raised through a raffle, bonus ball and charity single recorded by Donnie himself which we sold in-store.
The initiative is part of a nationwide campaign which is encouraging Scottish butchers to raise money for community defibrillators.
The idea behind the Butchers at the Heart of the Community initiative, supported by Scottish Craft Butchers, the Scotch Butchers Club and Save a Life Scotland, was started by butcher Pamela Hunter from Hunters of Kinross.
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Donnie, who is a member of Scottish Craft Butchers, said: “One of our members a butcher shop in Kinross had a customer who took a heart attack. They tried CPR but his heart stopped for 10 to 15 minutes. When the paramedics got there, they said if he had defibrillator in the shop that would have kept him going until they got there. It might have saved them.”
Butchers across Scotland are now being encouraged to pledge “I’m In” and display collection tins in their shop to raise money for a local defibrillator to support the Butcher’s at the Heart of the Community campaign.
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