“Because of the tragic circumstances that happened here, it’s brilliant to now have a defibrillator in place,” says Sharon Appleby from Sunderland BID as the life-saving device is installed on a popular pub.

Last month, staff and drinkers at Chaplins were devastated when regular Billy Gibson fell ill at the pub in Sunderland city centre.

Chaplins' Andy Golding now has a defibrillator on the pub, with help from Red Sky Foundation founder Sergio Petrucci along with Sunderland BID's CE Sharon Appleby. | Sunderland Echo

placeholder image — Chaplins' Andy Golding now has a defibrillator on the pub, with help from Red Sky Foundation founder Sergio Petrucci along with Sunderland BID's CE Sharon Appleby. | Sunderland Echo

Staff followed the chain of survival procedure and rushed to the nearest defibrillator, which was situated at TK Maxx, and managed to restart his heart.

Billy sadly passed away overnight, but using the equipment gave him more precious hours with his loved ones.

Hearing Billy’s story, Sunderland-based Red Sky Foundation reached out to the pub and have given the staff an unlimited period of counselling and, now, a defibrillator has been installed on the side of the pub after being donated by the charity.

Andrew Golding, director at Chaplins, said: “It meant a great deal to us when Red Sky reached out. One of the the things you don’t realise is the effects of the situation when you have a cardiac arrest in the pub.

“It affects the customers, the staff - it was a really traumatic experience for everyone involved.

“So we were really pleased when Red Sky reached out and offered their services to help us through a really difficult time.”

Billy Gibson sadly passed away after falling ill at the pub in December | Submitted

He added: “Having a defibrillator is vital when you’re working on the clock to save lives and this one will be beneficial to Chaplins, but also the surrounding businesses.”

Red Sky aims to have a defibrillator every 500metres in Sunderland city centre and the dedicated work of their fundraisers is helping the charity work towards that goal, as well as its other life-saving work.

Rangers from Sunderland BID help to maintain the equipment once on site in the city centre and Sharon Appleby, chief executive at the city’s BIDs, says they’re vital.

“It’s so important that we have visible defibrillators like these across the whole of the city centre,” she said. “And because of the tragic circumstances we had here it’s brilliant we’ve had one put here.

“But we need more. They encourage people to come to the city centre because it helps them feel safe as they know that, if anything were to happen, it won’t take long to get things sorted.”