A ‘SAVE a Life, Save the Day’ event proved so popular that two sessions were held.

The event on Sunday was organised by Sharon Olde, from Morwenstow, who wanted to highlight the importance of first aid knowledge after her son, Brad, had a cardiac arrest last year.

Brad, 21, had been out on his nightly run last May to up his fitness levels, as he was preparing for a fitness test to enable him to go into the Royal Navy last summer as a hydrographic, oceanographic, geographical specialist.

Brad had stopped breathing, and Mrs Olde described it as a ‘miracle’ that neighbour Wendy Cook saw him collapsed on the road, alerted Sharon’s husband Charlie, and then another neighbour, Will Massingale, a trained coastguard, passed by, and applied CPR.

He was able to tell Wendy, who was on the phone to the ambulance service, the severity of Brad’s injury.

Brad was attended by a paramedic crew, luckily in the area at the time, who used a defibrillator, before he was airlifted to Derriford Hospital.

Brad was in the intensive care unit for three weeks, in an induced coma, and doctors told Mr and Mrs Olde that he had a hypoxic brain injury.

In the third week he responded to a question asked by the nurse, he was then able to be moved to a ward in Derriford and had to learn to walk, talk and feed himself again.

He also underwent surgery and has an ICD fitted in case he has any further cardiac arrests.

Brad was in hospital for four months receiving rehabilitation, and was able to return home in September.

Sharon previously told the Post: “He continues to have outside therapy and although it is a long journey to recovery we have got our Bradley back more than we ever initially imagined.”

The ‘Save a Life, Save the Day’ fundraiser — in aid of Devon Air Ambulance and Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) — was a chance for people to find out about using a defibrillator, CPR, and general first aid.

Lifeguards, first aiders, paramedics and coastguards were all on hand to help out on the day

It was held on Sunday at Morwenstow Community Centre, and more than 100 people took part.

Mrs Olde expressed thanks to everybody for coming and to Sarah Bryant and Kingsley Bryant, of Morwenstow FC, who have campaigned for a defibrillator.

Brad also spoke on the day and expressed his thanks to Will Massingale, who gave Brad CPR when he collapsed.

Mrs Olde said: “Brad wanted to get involved and did a presentation himself, saying I’m walking evidence CPR does help.

“The one thing I didn’t want was people walking away from that day thinking what a waste of time, but people were saying it was marvellous.”