Sunderland and Leeds players will wear specially designed ‘Every Minute Matters’ t-shirts during the warm-up ahead of their Championship clash to help raise awareness of the importance of learning CPR.
It comes as the campaign celebrates hitting the milestone of teaching 100,000 people CPR since the initiative began in May this year.
Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation’s ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign seeks to educate people on potentially life-saving CPR training. They have set a target of 270,000 people to start learning CPR by the end of the 2024-25 season.
Their star-studded ‘Re-Starting 11’ squad includes the likes of Graeme Souness, Luton captain Tom Lockyer and former Wimbledon, Leeds United and Chelsea hard man Vinnie Jones.
Ahead of the fixture at the Stadium of Light, Lockyer visited his Wales team-mate and Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu at the club’s training ground to help mobilise supporters behind the cause.
Every Minute Matters ambassador Tom Lockyer (left) met his Wales team-mate and Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu (right) ahead of their trip to the Stadium of Light
Lockyer, who suffered a cardiac arrest in December 2023 during a match against Bournemouth, gave Ampadu a lesson on delivering CPR
‘CPR is a vital skill that helped save my life and saves thousands more every year.’ Lockyer, who suffered a cardiac arrest in December 2023 during a match against Bournemouth, said. ‘It’s amazing that we’ve reached the 100,000 mark, but what’s clear is that we need to bridge this confidence gap.
‘Sunderland and Leeds are two of the biggest and best supported clubs in the whole of the EFL so we are keen to get them on board and behind the campaign and show their fans that learning CPR is simple, easy and takes just 15 minutes via the BHF’s online RevivR tool.’
Ampadu added: ‘I’m going to log on and I’m going to learn [CPR], because like you say, you never know if you’re going to be around that moment.’
There are more than 30,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, equating to at least five every 90 minutes.
Each minute that passes without CPR reduces the chance of survival by up to 10 per cent. And tragically, less than one in ten people survive, often because those around them lack the skills or confidence to perform CPR.
An incredible £639,000 has been raised so far, including £380,000 from the Sky Bet Play Offs in May and £259,000 since August through Sky Bet’s pledges to donate £10,000 for every ‘stoppage time’ EFL goal, and £1000 for every goal scored over the weekend of World Heart Day.
Life-long Sunderland supporter and cardiac arrest survivor Lee Stephenson (right) met Sunderland captain Luke O’Nien at the Academy of Light
A star-studded line-up of people involved in football come together for a lifesaving campaign
The British Heart Foundation will use the money raised by the campaign so far to help continue to fund its community resuscitation activity, training more people in lifesaving CPR and defibrillation skills. This will include funding 80 more community defibrillators across the UK.
Sky Bet Chief Commercial Officer Steve Birch said: ‘We set ourselves a really ambitious goal of encouraging 270,000 people to begin learning CPR by May 2025 and it’s amazing to reach the 100,000 mark.
‘Hopefully this weekend can raise awareness of the importance of learning this life saving skills to a whole other level with the support of Leeds and Sunderland.’
To learn CPR in just 15 minutes, visit bhf.org.uk/revivr