A BURY pensioner whose heart was re-started by a defibrillator after suffering a cardiac arrest on the bowling green has helped Elton High School fund the cost of the same vital life-saving equipment.

Jack Rogerson, a member of Elton Cricket Club’s bowling section, was given mouth-to-mouth and cardio pulmonary resuscitation by three fellow players after collapsing on the green at Seedfield last August. Paramedics later deployed a defibrillator before the 70-year-old was taken to Fairfield Hospital.

After later undergoing a quadruple heart bypass, Jack decided he wanted to raise money to buy Elton Cricket Club in Leigh Lane its own £800 defibrillator. A successful charity race night, allied to donations and sponsorship, generated a fantastic £2,500.

But when the North West Ambulance Service kindly donated the equipment free of charge, Jack decided he would contact local schools and churches in Elton and to use the money to pay half the costs of purchasing a defibrillator. Due to his kind gesture, Elton High School can now boast its own.

Jack, of Greenway Close, said: “Thanks to sponsors, donations and money raised by local people and businesses, I was able to approach two churches and three schools in the area to go 50-50 on buying the equipment.”

He and Geoff Hall from Elton Cricket Club visited the Walshaw Road high school to see the new defibrillator.

Elton High School leaders say they were delighted to have the equipment on site and Year Seven pupils are going to fundraise for the remainder of the cost and will also be generating money for the British Heart Foundation’s “Jump Rope for Heart” programme.

The school stress it is reassuring that anyone who suddenly takes ill can have the use of the defibrillator if required, prior to paramedics arriving.

Headteacher Adrian Calvert said: “I was delighted when Mr Rogerson contacted me with the offer of a donation towards the purchase of a defibrillator for our school.

“As a school, we feel this is a valuable item to have on site and although I hope we never have to use it, it really could be lifesaving.”