A SHAW business are devastated after discovering a community defibrillator they raised money for was stolen – just before it was needed in an emergency situation.

Sports Physio UK were informed that potentially lifesaving piece of equipment had been stolen when North West Ambulance Service directed a 999 caller to the Market Street defibrillator during a suspected cardiac arrest incident, only to find its security box empty on Monday.

Luckily the ambulance service arrived quickly and a defibrillator was not required, but the team at Sports Physio UK have warned that it could have been a different outcome.

They have now set about raising £1,000 to replace the defibrillator as soon as possible to ensure it is available in another emergency situation.

Their campaign to replace the defibrillator is also very personal after the business tirelessly fundraised and purchased the lifesaving piece of equipment in memory of Ashley Livesey, the brother of Sports Physio UK director Lucy Livesey.

Ashley was just 15 when he collapsed and sadly died while representing Royton and Crompton School at an interschools cross country championship in 2004.

Scott Woodhead, Director at Sports Physio UK, said: "We were devastated when we were informed that the defibrillator had been stolen.

"We work hard fundraising for the charity SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome) and wanted to put as many defibrillators in the community as possible.

"We started with ourselves and dedicated the deliberator it to Ashley but we wanted it to be available for the community to use in an emergency so we placed it in a locked cabinet outside.

"Only ourselves and North West Ambulance Service had access to the code and it had been returned the last time it had been accessed."

He added that it appears that someone had managed to get the cabinet open in some way to take the defibrillator, but they are currently unsure exactly how.

Scott continued: "It's despicable that someone would steal it.

"We have given up a lot of our time raising money and awareness for the defibrillators in the community for someone to come and take it away is heartbreaking.

"If someone were to have a cardiac arrest now, there would be no defibrillator to potentially save their life.

"It could affect anyone in the community and we need to replace the defibrillator as soon as possible to ensure it is available in an emergency."

Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces a victim's survival rate by 7 to 10%.

To donate to the defibrillator campaign visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sportsphysiouk