Defibrillator May Have Saved My Dad.. Every Gym Should Have One

Son’s plea after fit father died at just 49

- Amy-Clare Martin

The grieving son of a football manager who died aged just 49 after a cardiac arrest in a gym has shared his anger that there was no defibrillator there to save him.

After one of the devices saved Danish footballer Christian Eriksen at a Euros match last weekend, Charlie Edinburgh blasted: “How many more cases like this are going to happen before they [the Government] stand up and take notice?”

Leyton Orient manager and former Tottenham Hotspur player Justin Edinburgh died in hospital less than a week after he suffered the heart incident while he was working out.

There was no defibrillator in the gym and he waited six minutes for one to arrive from a nearby shopping centre.

Charlie founded the Justin Edinburgh 3 Foundation to campaign for a “Justin’s Law” making defibrillators mandatory in all sports venues.

He now backs the Mirror’s calls to make the kit compulsory in schools and public buildings.