WORK colleagues will take on a skydive challenge to pay for a community defibrillator.

Ellie Durn and Katie Hawkins who work at the Elgar Business Centre in Hallow, are aiming to raise enough money to install a defibrillator at the site for surrounding villages to use.

The pair, who work for Clearview System, believe that the centre's location means that it would take a considerable time for an ambulance to reach the site in an emergency.

Ms Durn's father suffered a heart attack last summer which has been difficult to manage as he has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and Ms Hawkins' father has chronic heart failure.

Ms Durn said: "It is essential for someone in cardiac arrest to be treated immediately with a defibrillator, as for every minute that passes by without one chances of survival reduce by 10% percent.

"Due to our offices rural location in Hallow, Worcestershire it would be extremely unlikely that an ambulance crew would be able to reach us or the surrounding villages within minutes.

"Unfortunately, cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anytime and anywhere- it is extremely unpredictable. "Approximately 100,000 people die of cardiac arrest each year in the UK, that’s more than 1,750 a week.

"Unfortunately without treatment with a defibrillator, only approximately five percent of people survive."

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall to a person who has had a cardiac arrest.

It can be used by any member of the public when someone dials 999.

Any money raised in excess of what is needed for a defibrillator will go to the British Heart Foundation.

The skydive will take place on Wednesday May 31.

To donate, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/clearviews-community-defibrillator