Members of St John Ambulance in Southend were overjoyed when they received a brand new piece of equipment to aid their crucial lifesaving role.

The volunteers have been desperate to get their hands on a new smaller and lighter defibrillator before the summer.

Members wrote to Southend firm KeyMed, well-known for its charitable donations, to help out with the cost of the defibrillator.

And divisional officer Peter Hadleigh said the firm offered to pay for the £2,175 equipment outright. He said: "It was a great surprise. We'll get it just in time for the summer season. We get very busy at this time of year.

"The new defibrillator is very small and very portable - far better than our old one. This equipment will be used to cover the whole of Southend."

Published Monday, April 14, 2003

Brought to you by the Evening Echo