AN EVESHAM paramedic has been celebrated for her campaign which has resulted in 24 defibrillators being installed around the town.
Kerry Wood was awarded the Going the Extra Mile Award by Platform Housing Group at its annual Community Heroes Awards on June 19 to highlight the unsung heroes who live in their communities.
In 2021, the town’s community ambulance station closed, meaning that ambulances had to travel from Worcester, Warwick or Gloucester, causing delays to patient care.
In response to this busy mum of four Kerry set about fundraising for equipment and forming Evesham Defibrillators, a group of women consisting of Sue Dyke, Kerry Yeates, Karen Stephens and Donna Atkin.
She said: “I installed Evesham’s first defibrillator outside my home and since then it has snowballed.”
And Kerry paid tribute to all the others involved in the venture.
“I really don’t want to take all the credit for this, as I have an army behind me,” she added. “I was not expecting to win and I feel truly humbled.”
Marion Duffy, chief operations officer at Platform Housing Group, said:
“Kerry is an absolute inspiration.
“Defibrillators save lives and what she has done by organising teams of people to continue such valuable work means that people’s lives are continuing to be saved.
“She should be very proud of her army and of herself as leader. What she has done for her local community deserves to be rewarded.”
The award category was sponsored by independent electric vehicle charging point installers and service agents AMP EV, and the event sponsors were Travis Perkins Managed Services.
