Tuesday 21st June 2016 – 1.45pm – Claire Brown.
The family of a Birmingham man who died playing football last year have raised enough money to donate not one but eight defibrillators to leisure facilities in his memory.
Adele Pogmore’s Dad, 65-year-old Egidio (Eddie) Pulisciano, was playing football at Leasowes Sports Centre in October when he suffered a cardiac arrest a few minutes into the game. Despite excellent bystander CPR and a swift response by West Midlands Ambulance Service Eddie sadly died.
Adele, her brother Adriano Pulisciano and her Mum Ann Pulisciano, decided to raise money to buy a defibrillator for Leasowes but when donations reached over £8,000 they were overwhelmed. Adele, 34 from Bournville, explains: “Mum had the idea to raise money for a defib for Leasowes, where dad died. We used Facebook to ask for donations instead of flowers for his funeral and from one post we went from nothing to over £8,000! We didn’t expect the generosity we received and it’s been humbling to know that people cared so much that they wanted to donate money in Dad’s memory.”
Adele contacted the Trust’s Community Response Manager Andy Jeynes who was instrumental in helping the family buy not one but eight defibrillators. Physio Control, as part of their charitable function, were able to support the purchases of the defibrillators meaning that Eddie’s family could afford to not only buy more defibrillators than they could have otherwise but also the equipment to house them. The family have donated devices to places in Birmingham which meant something to Eddie; Leasowes Sports Centre, Lea Marston Hotel & Golf, Harborne Golf Club, Wishaw Cricket Club, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston Reservoir, Sutton Park, Futsall five-a-side in Birmingham.
At the beginning of April, Andy Jeynes and Ben Mundigian from Physio Control trained 10 staff from several of the donation sites in basic first aid and how to use a defibrillator. Andy and Ben have since trained further staff on the various donation sites including 16 at Futsall.
Andy said: “The family have put an incredible amount of time and effort into this project. The locations that they’ve chosen are ideal as they have large visitor numbers. The quicker a defibrillator can be used the better the chances of survival.”
Ann, 62 from Edgbaston, said: “As my husband was a sportsman, his nephews also organised a very successful five-a-side football tournament to raise some of the money. We’re determined to make this five-a-side tournament an annual thing to help raise money for more defibrillators as it’s something we want to continue in my husband’s legacy.”
Pictured: Adele and her mum Ann (2nd and 3rd from right) with staff trained by WMAS Andy Jeynes (left) and Physio Control Ben Mundigian (far right)
ENDS