The team at Burnham and Highbridge Parkrun said on Sunday (January 2nd) that a missing defibrillator at Highbridge’s Apex Park was not in fact stolen but used in a medical emergency.
The club had issued a public appeal for information after saying the life-saving device had been removed from its box at the popular park over the Christmas holiday period.
The Parkrun’s co-director, Stuart Anderson, says: “We have now been informed by the police at 9am this morning that the defib was used for a medical emergency and has not been stolen.”
“This was a communication issue, and we were not informed that the defib had been used. We checked with the circuit who administer the co-ordination of community defibs, and the site was saying that the defib was still available for use, hence the appeal.”
Stuart adds: “We can only apologise for creating a news story that wasn’t, although this is a satisfactory outcome for us. We sincerely apologise to the family involved.”
“I am glad the defib was available to be used in such an emergency. I will check how communication should take place when a community defib is used, to avoid this confusion in future.”
The person who required use of the defibrillator is recovering.