Rachel-Jayne Murray turns heartbreak into hope

Inspired by the loss of her mum, Rachel-Jayne Murray raises £1,730 to bring a lifesaving defibrillator to Hawkhead

Thanks to Rachel-Jayne Murray, the residents of Hawkhead Gardens and Garner Memorials, Paisley now has a new community public access defibrillator installed on Hawkhead Road.

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Inspired by the sad and sudden loss of her mum, and the fact that there was no defibrillator nearby, Rachel-Jayne took it upon herself to help bring this lifesaving medical device to the area. This is her story:

“I was invited to attend a St John Scotland defibrillator training course in church back in January. It was here that I learned that following a cardiac arrest, the body has four minutes of oxygenated blood before your chances of survival decrease dramatically.

“Defibrillators save lives, but it got me thinking. Here in Hawkhead Gardens, our ‘local’ ones are essentially obsolete in an emergency situation, and I wanted to change that.

“Devastatingly, we lost our beautiful mum in January 2024, suddenly and completely unexpectedly. She was only 59. With the knowledge I gained from the training at church, I now understand that a defibrillator wouldn’t have saved Mum. But if I could raise funds to have one available to our community, I hoped it would save lives and spare other people from experiencing this pain and grief.

“I looked into the cost of defibrillators, which was around £1,500 for a locked cabinet model, as required for a community unit. I reckoned that if I had a whip-round among residents in the estate, we could quickly raise the amount needed.

“A neighbour commented on my original post on our community Facebook page, explaining that there is actually a campaign run by St John Ambulance where, if you raise £1,000, they will find the rest and provide free community training, just like the event I attended that sparked the whole idea.

“So that’s what we did! In the end, we raised an incredible £1,730 from residents of Hawkhead Gardens, friends, family and an incredibly generous donation of £100 from Garner Memorials, a small local business situated directly across the road from the defibrillator’s location.

“I am so grateful to everyone for helping me make this quest a reality.”

The defibrillator is installed near the entrance to Hawkhead Cemetery, the irony of which is not lost on Rachel-Jayne.

“It makes me smile when I see it, and I also like to think it would tickle my mum knowing its location!”

The cabinet requires mains electricity to power its heating, lighting and monitoring systems. This helps maintain the defibrillator’s recommended storage temperature and protects it from cold, damp and condensation.

This is why the unit has been installed on the wall of Hawkhead Cemetery.

You can follow Rachel-Jayne on Instagram.