Jayne Biggs has installed more than 400 publicly accessible defibrillators and is urging others to recognise the reality of cardiac events
Jayne Biggs has dedicated years to installing hundreds of public defibrillators, teaching thousands of people CPR for free and raising funds for her charity Heart 2 Heart Norfolk. This was all sparked by a life-changing moment when her daughter, Violet, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at just seven years old.
Jayne said: “People say to me, ‘we should get a defib because everyone around here is old’, but sudden cardiac arrest doesn’t discriminate against anyone, 12 people under 35 die from sudden cardiac arrest every week.”
The incident that altered the Biggs family began as a normal evening in February 2013. Jayne remembered hearing Violet coughing upstairs, which was unusual since Violet, a fit and competitive dancer and scout, had rarely been ill.
Jayne assumed her young daughter was merely “messing around” and didn’t notice anything else out of the ordinary. Around 11pm, Jayne believes it was “pure fate” that prompted her to check on Violet.
Upon entering the room and seeing her daughter, Jayne recalled: “I just knew she wasn’t going to get another breath. I started CPR and screamed to my husband, and he took over from me and I dialled 999.”
When the paramedics arrived seven minutes later, they shocked Violet with a defibrillator and continued CPR. Violet survived and spent a month in hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called Long QT Syndrome. The condition is often associated with sudden cardiac death in young, otherwise healthy people.
Jayne and her husband, Tony, both had careers in the offshore industry and had undergone first aid training, never anticipating they would need to use it on their own child. She added: “If I hadn’t checked on her that evening, she would have been dead the following morning when I went into her bedroom. Me and my husband Tony doing that CPR for seven minutes saved her.”
After her cardiac arrest, Violet, who is now 19, was fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) that keeps a constant watch on her heart and delivers a shock if necessary. The same device that Christian Eriksen was given after his sudden cardiac arrest during the 2020 Euros.
Since Violet’s cardiac arrest, Jayne has installed over 400 defibrillators across Norfolk and Suffolk that are publicly accessible 24/7 through her charity Heart 2 Heart Norfolk. She continues to fundraise for more, encouraging people to sign up to easyfundraising and choose her charity as their cause.
She explained: “Nearly every single defib you see across the country is there because of someone like me, or someone who has tragically lost someone, has raised money for one. They’re not government or NHS-funded. If you see one and look at the box, it will probably have a charity logo or a dedication sign to someone.
“I know of four lives that have been saved from people who have contacted me. I have dozens of defibrillators used.”
Through easyfundraising, people can do their usual online shopping with brands that have signed up to the service, which will then automatically donate a percentage of the purchase to their chosen cause without adding any extra on the bill. Heart 2 Heart Norfolk has already raised over £300 through the platform.
Jayne shared her experience: “For instance, I just booked my holiday through TUI via easyfundraising and raised £80 by doing nothing other than logging in via easyfundraising first. It’s such a good way to make money without the hard work. I’m 100% non-profitable so everything that’s raised stays in the community.”