Brenda Edwards recalls brother’s terrifying cardiac arrest ordeal

Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards, 53, has spoken exclusively to Express.co.uk about the time her brother’s life was saved by a stranger after he had a cardiac arrest in the middle of the street.

In a wider interview about a new campaign to roll out more than 200 defibrillators across O2 stores in the UK in partnership with British Heart Foundation, the ITV star spoke about the incident earlier this year.

This is not the only family tragedy the presenter has endured, as her son Jamal Edwards sadly died last February following a cardiac arrhythmia.

The DJ and music entrepreneur, who helped launch the careers of many musicians through his platform SBTV, was just 31 years old when he died.

Speaking about how heart problems “run in the family”, Brenda spoke thoughtfully about the day her brother’s life was saved.

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“My brother had a cardiac arrest on the high street of Bristol a few years back and if it wasn’t for a stranger that just literally happened to be walking past, he would not be here with us today,” she said.

“This person administered CPR to my brother for 20 minutes – for 20 minutes my brother’s heart stopped – until an ambulance came and took him to hospital.

“And then he was in a coma for a period of time before they could do an operation on him and he now has, effectively, a defibrillator fitted next to his heart so that if there is any further arrhythmia, then it can regulate his heart and get it back to normal.

“But unfortunately, it’s not just my brother who’s suffered heart conditions, you know, it is within my family,” she added.

“So that’s why when I was approached to do it, I totally, absolutely jumped at it,” Brenda said in reference to the British Heart Foundation campaign to encourage more people to learn CPR.

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“Not just because of that – you don’t need to have family members who have heart conditions in order to learn something to help somebody else,” she continued.

“As I said, for 20 minutes. And before I trained in it, I was embarrassed that I didn’t know and had no idea what I should do [in that situation].

“I would have probably been the person that’s panicking and thinking, ‘Am I doing it right?’

“So I probably wouldn’t have been the one to put myself forward to help somebody, but I realised that you can’t have that attitude.

“And if that other person, that stranger, had that attitude my brother wouldn’t be here,” she reasoned.

“So I’ve had to rethink and now I’m definitely somebody who sees the benefits of this and, unfortunately, there are so many cardiac arrests that happen in the UK – 30,000 a year.

“Now we have a massive project being rolled out that can save so many lives, and even just one life saved is an amazing feat.”

Virgin Media O2 has rolled out defibrillators to all company-owned stores across the UK – greatly increasing access to life-saving equipment on hundreds of High Streets in partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

More than 200 defibrillators are now available and Virgin Media O2 is in the process of registering them on BHF’s National Defibrillator Network, The Circuit, meaning 999 call handlers will be able to quickly direct people to nearby stores in an emergency.

Brenda Edwards visits Virgin Media O2 as it partners with British Heart Foundation to rollout more than 200 defibrillators across O2 stores in the UK. From 19th Jan to 26th Jan, the business raised awareness and urged more people to learn CPR on screens outside O2 stores nationwide.