A Maryport woman is hoping that lives will be saved with a donation of a defibrillator to each of the town's rugby league clubs.

Karen Little lost her husband Peter in April 2017 when he died suddenly just one week after his 60th birthday.

Mrs Little, of Princess Drive, Maryport, holds an annual event to raise money and awareness of ME.

However, after the death of her husband she decided she would run a charity night to raise money for the Dearham and District First Responders who were first on the scene when Peter collapsed.

“We held an event at Grasslot Welfare Club. I expected to raise a couple of hundred pounds but, instead, raised £3,000. I never imagined it would be that much.”

She said she was happy for that to go into the coffers of the First Responders but they had other ideas.

“They told me that defibrillators would help a lot of people.

“Peter was involved in the Ellenborough club so we decided to buy one from them and the rest followed.”

As a result of her fundraising, defibrillators are now being installed at Ellenborough, Maryport and Glasson Rangers rugby club. She said the defibrillators were suitable for use on adults and children.

“You hear of young children collapsing on the field. If that happens now there will be a means to help.”

Malcolm Wigham, community resuscitation development officer for First Responders agreed.

He said: “These units are not just for older people but young people as well who may have undiagnosed heart problems. It is important that they are available at events.”

First responder Alec Moore said they would be a huge benefit to the clubs and to the town as a whole.

“These defibrillators are portable and can be taken to away games. They will also be available during functions at the clubs.

“We will be giving the ambulance service advice on when the clubs are open, too, so if anyone needs to use one in the town they will be available.”

The defibrillators have step-by-step instructions for users, However, Mr Moore said he would be prepared to give demonstrations at the clubs if they wished.

Representatives of all the clubs attended the presentation of the defibrillators, including some young players.

Mrs Little said she was overwhelmed at the amount raised in memory of Peter.

Peter’s colleagues at Carillon and DSD Construction donated more than £1,000 from their own fundraising event in Whitehaven.