Abergavenny teenager presents school with new defibrillator

A Sixth Form student has presented a new defibrillator to Monmouth School for Boys this week after organising a successful fund-raising day last term.

The Wear Red Day in March was inspired by 16-year-old pupil, Joshua Sutton-Dodd, from Abergavenny, and raised £1,000, mostly for the Welsh Hearts charity with a small donation to Velindre.

With support from his friends, Joshua sold t-shirts, wristbands, pin badges and cakes and organised a rugby ball-throwing game to raise funds for Welsh Hearts.

Joshua is an ambassador for Welsh Hearts, a heart charity for placing defibrillators in communities and delivering CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and defibrillator training in Wales.

Joshua recently had a meeting with His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, who has asked to be kept updated with the teenager's future fundraising activities.

"Modern defibrillators give simple, computerised instructions through a voice mechanism as soon as you switch them on," said Joshua.

"You can really make a difference using them and it's better to try to save a life than worry about damaging a rib, for instance.

"I want to thank everyone for their ongoing support for the charity work because giving back is so important."

Headmaster at Monmouth School for Boys, Dr Andrew Daniel, said: "As a school, we did exceptionally well last year with our huge charity projects to help others in need in the wider community.

"This is a wonderful example of one of the things that I mean when I talk about the importance of us being kind and supporting others."