HEART shock equipment should be in all communities as well as sports facilities to help save lives, a charity has said after the deaths of two teenage footballers.
The Arrhythmia Alliance said defibrillators, which jump start the heart after cardiac arrest, saved footballer Fabrice Muamba and golfer Bernard Gallacher after heart attacks.
The call came after former Heart of Midlothian trainee Jamie Skinner, 14, collapsed during a match for his new team Tynecastle FC in the Scottish capital on Sunday, just a few hours after Hibernian youth team member David Paul was found dead at his home in Edinburgh.
The death of 18-year-old David is the second tragedy to hit his family, coming five years after his sister Jennifer died in her sleep aged 16.
It is unclear what caused the deaths or what treatment was given to Jamie. Post mortem examinations are being carried out.
The organisation also known as the Heart Rhythm Charity said all communities should have access to the equipment.
Trudie Lobban, founder and chief executive of Arrhythmia Alliance, said: "Arrhythmia's (heart rhythm disorders) can be diagnosed and treated and many lives could be saved.
"Even more lives could be saved if a defibrillator was close at hand to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm."
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