AN APPEAL has come one step closer to achieving its goal of making Gwent as "heart safe" as possible.

Twenty-two defibrillators will soon join 50 others dotted across Gwent, following a donation from the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board to Jack's Appeal ABUHB.

The appeal - called Jack's Appeal ABUHB - aims to have defibrillators placed in public access sites following the death of 15-year-old Jack Thomas who died suddenly of an undetected heart problem in 2012.

Phil Hill, who set up the campaign, welcomed the news, saying: "This is absolutely brilliant news for the whole of Gwent.

"We already have a number of defibrillators out there and one person has been saved. Having even more will be able to save even more lives.

"Many of the existing defibrillators had been donated by the health board in 2017. Some local communities had also become involved by raising money for them.

"We can now start to think strategically of where to place the new defibrillators."

Mr Hill added: "I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped - including the health board and the Welsh Ambulance."

And Jack's mum, June Thomas, added: "This is wonderful news.

"Defibrillators save lives and we need more of them in areas. I have spent a few years now pushing for more defibrillators to be in communities.

"When I heard the news that more defibrillators are to be introduced I was really happy."

Recent medical evidence suggests that every minute a person remains in cardiac arrest without a defibrillator being used lessens their chance of survival by 10 per cent.

If you would like to know where your nearest defibrillator is then you can do so by typing in your postcode here, https://bit.ly/2vvCx1J