The late Cormac McAnallen's mother, Bridget, has praised Derry's use of a defibrillator to restart Kevin McCloy's heart.

The former Derry captain was revived, having lost his pulse for a few minutes after collapsing during a club game at Owenbeg on Wednesday night, and is now in a stable condition in hospital.

Mrs McAnallen has become a leading figure in highlighting the need for defibrillators at sporting events. The Cormac Trust, which marked ten years in operation last January, has saved many lives in Ulster by popularising defibrillators (there are three at Derry's Centre of Excellence).

"I applaud Derry's attitude to looking after players," she told The Belfast Telegraph. "The fact that they had a defibrillator, and that they were available and they were able to use them, they could restart his heart.

"Although I know very little about the actual incident, it appears it was needed. They wouldn't have administered the shock if his heart did not need it.

"This has come about because there were other people who collapsed and they began to realise there was a problem.

"But we did what we could at the time and over the past number of years in raising awareness about heart conditions and the defibrillator is a good idea.

"The public and the media have really taken that cause up. They have responded. There is a huge demand for defibrillators and has been for the past number of years. Society, and the GAA, have come a long way in this regard." Tweet

Most Read Stories